Getting To Know Gold Before You Sell It
Most of us go about our everyday lives with little care for the small things. By "small things", I mean the beauties and aspects of life which go unnoticed. For example - take a look at that gold bracelet or ring that you are wearing. What actually is it? What is it actually made of? Where did the material come from? Why is it so special?
If you are reading this article, then you are probably taking a bit of time out from your usually busy life. Hence, allow me to give you an informational lesson of the properties, structures, and attributes of gold, in its natural form. Hopefully by the end of this article, you will have a better appreciation of how that ring came to end up on your finger, or how that bracelet sits perfectly on your wrist.
Properties & Atomic Information.
Let's strip away all the glitz and glamor, and go right to the source. Here a few general facts about gold.
- Periodic Table Symbol = Au
- Periodic Table Number = 79
What most people don't actually realize is that "gold" is its very own element. Unlike other metals out there, gold is not a mix of any two elements or substances. It is in fact its own element. This is perhaps why it is so valuable - because it is not able to by synthetically made.
- Melting Point = 1,064 degrees Celsius
- Boiling Point = 2,856 degrees Celsius
Given that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius, you can gauge - at least to some extent - the strength and durability of gold. What the figure above actually means is that to make gold in to a runny liquid state - it has to be heated to over 10 times the boiling point of water.
Obscure Information About Gold.
To the average person, the facts and figures included below will mean very little. But it is still interesting to know that gold has so many measured and scrutinized aspects to it! Hence, as a lesson to all - I leave you with the complexity of gold in its natural form.
Young's modulus: 78 GPa
Tensile Strain: 0.00157
Shear Modulus: 27 GPa
Poisson Ratio: 0.44
Mohs Hardness: 2.5
CAS Registry Number: 7440-57-5
Atomic Radius: 135 pm
Electronegativity: 2.54
