Questions about aurum.
A) How many protons does the typical atom of gold have in its nucleus (thus, what is its atomic number)? B) Why do you think it has been used so often to make jewelry, coins, and other precious items by unrelated cultures from around the world and throughout history? C) Is it true gold is the best conductor of electricity of all the elements? D) Is gold the heaviest of all the metals?
Wednesday, November 14
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17 comments:
A) A lot, I can't remember and I can't cheat ( it would be easy ).
B) It is beautiful, malleable, and doesn't rust or corrode but lasts forever.
C) No. It is used for electrical connections ( plugs etc. ) because it does not corrode, not because it is the best conductor ( there we go talkin about trains again).
D) Nope
1. Don't know
2. Just read an article last night about gold - main thing is it's strength (malleable) and is indestructable. It was around during the stone age even!
3. i don't think so, copper??
4. no
79
easy to work with it, various colours, beautiful metal. :)
true
nope, f.e. platinum-type metals are much more heavier (I mean the alloy, not hte elements), not to mention Mercury and Plummet.
:)
A. Dunno
B. Coz it's pretty
C. No
D. No. Even tiny babies know that.
"Best conductor" ... good one Byte.
Mandus, what the hell is Plummet? Platinum?
I have to say it's a tie basically between all four of you, with each giving one incorrect answer and had varying degrees of correctness for the others.
To be more specific, the giant oatmeal cookie gets split between ByteDoc and Mandula, because they elaborated the most on their correct answers. But all of you did well.
Now the answers:
A) 79, as Mandi said. Considering the highest number of protons found under normal conditions in an atom is Uranium with 92, gold is pretty high up there.
B) Lots of reasons, but primarily that it was available on the surface (as ore or in veins that might be visible in rock), so no need to mine for it until people formed empires and got greedy; it is soft as metals go and the most malleable and extrudable (basically, hammerable and bendable without shattering) metal there is; it IS beautiful, and combines with many other metals to make different colors and properties like Mandi said; and crucially it's impervious to corrosion except to a few specialized lab acids and such, so essentially it lasts forever in nature. And also you can pour some strong acids on other metals sold to you as gold and only if it truly IS gold will it remain unmarked - otherwise time to get your tire iron and go see the person than sold you the smoking blob that's now sitting in your lab. Most of you got most of these reasons in one form or another.
C) NO, I used to think it was the best electrical conductor but it turns out silver is the best by a slim margin. The reason gold is used on electical connectors and things sent into space, etc., is that it is malleable and extrudable and will not shatter, can be stretched very thin and long (into wire for example), and most essentially does not oxidize (rust) or otherwise corrode, as Bytedoc said. Empath, copper is another excellent conductor, not far behind gold, and is much cheaper obviously to manufacture which is why it is used in house wiring and such. I imagine having your house wired with gold would be a Bill Gates undertaking. Copper is strong too (though tends to shatter at low temperatures). It corrodes obviously, which is one of the reasons it is always wrapped in plastic (another is insulation from other sources of electricity, like your body). So copper dominates, but gold is actually a more efficient conductor (fewer ohms of resistance), and silver, though problematic to work with and also expensive in its own way, is the BEST! Sorry to ruin your 4/4, Mandi.
D) You all got this right. Gold is indeed one of the heaviest metals (I'm talking about pure metals Mandi, not alloys or amalgams - I should have mentioned that), but there are a handful of heavier ones. Hold two chains of the same gauge of 24k gold (if you can find it) and pure platinum (same) in either hand at a jeweler's or metalurgist's shop sometime and you'll see platinum is much heavier. I know this too from wearing platinum jewelry at times.
OK, to be truly precise, the heaviest metals occuring in nature are, in order:
1. Iridium
2. Osmium
3. Platinum
4. Rhenium
5. Neptunium
6. Plutonium
7. Gold
8. Tungsten
...etc...
Note that #5 and #6 do not occur in nature but have to be made in the lab, so that gold is either the fifth or seventh heaviest metal (wow, dude)that we know ofin the universe. Not bad! Uranium has the largest atom as mentioned(amongst the naturals), but it also has a bigger nuclear volume because of this, and thus its density (and weight) are less than that of gold.
Thanks for taking the quiz at my 'Auricle'!!
Here is an excellent page on GOLD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold
Oops, forget the "occurring in nature" part right before the list of the heaviest metals, it makes no sense. Also, "than" should be "that" way up where your beating the fraudulent merchant with your tire iron. The rest I hope is free of errors. Sorry 'bout that.
Oops, sorry I should say lead instead of plummet (two words in the dictionary). Pb sign. :) But I made a mistake, I mixed the consistence (?)which is bigger than the gold's, with the relative atomic weight which is less. :) Mercury also. :) Looong yrz from school. :D
It's quite OK that your theoretical school knowledge is starting to slip a bit. You're the only one of all of us (as far as I know) that has actually crafted many beautiful objects and jewelry from gold and other metals and gems. That makes you the winner in one sense no matter what!
I should have guessed lead for plummet, of course I know lead's symbol is Pb. So I'm slipping too... It's all down to age ;)
Random fact: Did you know that electrum is an alloy of gold and silver, with gold being more dominant (by how much depends on different standards used throughout history)? I grew up playing D&D where the coins you could find and exchange and buy things with were Platinum, Gold, Electrum, Silver, and Copper, in decreasing order of worth. I always wondered what electrum was since (even then!) I knew it was not on the periodic table. It was once known as white gold but is not the 'white gold' of today (which is usually gold mixed with some platinum or palladium, plus silver (right, Mandi?)). It is more properly called "pale gold" since it's not white at all but just a very pale yellow. And the name is cool: Electrum!
Yepp, you are right with the white gold, but unforunately somtimes they use nickel instead of palladium - cheaper but not as good anyway. AND may causes allergy.
Electrum, yes, it is a cool thing. :)Pale yellow it could be, but there is an alloy from pure gold and silver, and nothing else, and it has a green colour, it is green gold. :) There are many alloys of gold - different gold-contetnt, different other stuff -> different colour. :D
Beautiful. My favorite is red- or rose-gold. :) AND green of course. :)
Ok, thanks! I'd never heard of green gold or rose gold before, only red gold, which is like 75% gold and 25% copper. Very cool looking in ancient antiques. I'm learning a lot about metallurgy.
Empath as I accidentally mentioned in our chat is MY MOM, and she and I are both interested in gems (precious as well as semi-precious stones, and definitely natural rather than man-made). Are you interested in this part of geology too?
I just LOOOOOVVE geology. The earth produces some spectacular things. I even love fossils - not geology but paleontology, but requires knowledge of geological strata and inorganic chemistry (my favourite - O-chem = Zzzz)
Good grief.
Mags, you're so blatantly anti-science, I sometimes wonder if some of the religiousness never wore off. What's more fascinating than the natural world. Studying it doesn't detract from it's beauty for me, I can appreciate it on different levels. I love chemisty and geology because it tell you why everything around you is the way it is. You can be scientific AND spiritual/poetic. I'm living proof!
Not trying to get you to put on a white coat an safety glasses, but at least don't dismiss those of us who find things like metals fascinating. I've loved chemistry - knowing what things were MADE of - as long as I can remember being able to think. I read my Snoopy encyclopedia cover to cover and one of the main things I remember what a discussion of matter - solid, liquid, gas, plasma. And types of energy - heat, light, gravity, etc. I've been curious about the WHY and WHAT of everything (literally) since I was born.
What's wrong with that?
Better yet, tell me what YOU'RE interested in (besides mastershalums) and I'll tailor a quiz that you'll find fascinating.
My friend Mandula is a trained and till recently full-timed employed goldsmith, hence the quiz. She's made tons of beautiful and creative jewelry and art from metals and precious stones. She and I are a lot alike. We like the technical side of things, which then allows us to be creative with it in a way not every can be who doesn't understand the underpinnings (the science). Don't be a hater! =)
Okay, I've found something, but not the one I searced for. It is less, but something good.
Yellow gold: Au, Cu, Ag, Zn
White: Au, Cu, Ni, Zn
Red: Au, Cu
Green Au, Ag
Keep on searching the exact contents, some black hole made it vanish from my hard disk. :)
Meta - I have just had an epiphany. You should be a teacher.
I'd love to be!
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