QandAs: Tech

What Is Gold?

Answer:
Gold is a chemical element that has the chemical symbol of Au.

It is highly prized as a precious metal used for coinage, jewelry, and other art since the beginning of recorded history.

The metal can be found as either nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins, and in alluvial deposits. Gold is a dense, shiny, and it is also the most malleable and ductile pure metal that is known to man. Pure gold is bright yellow in color and has a very attractive luster. Gold will maintain this luster without oxidizing in either air or water. It is one of the coinage metals and formed the basis of the gold standard which was used before the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1971.

By the end of 2006, it was estimated that the total of all the gold ever mined totals 158,000 tons. This may sound like a lot, but it can be represented by a cube that has only 20.2 meters for the length of an edge.

Modern industrial uses for gold include dentistry and electronics, where gold has been found to have a good resistance to corrosion and oxidation, and it also is an excellent conductor of electricity.