There are many precious metals available for public consumption yet gold still has a special place in the hearts of so many people. This precious metal has been utilized for various purposes such as in the creation of art, the making of coins and jewelry. Gold is often found in the form of grains hidden in rocks as well as alluvial deposits. This particular metal has a bright shine and it’s dense. At the same time, it’s also very ductile. It has an eye-grabbing yellow color and it shines beautifully. A lot of the metal’s characteristics are naturally preserved as they don’t get affected much by chemicals and humidity. The more elaborate description of this precious metal is described as below:
1. General description. The chemical symbol for gold is Au. 79 is its atomic number. It’s categorized as a type of transition metal. It weighs approximately 196 g.mol-1 (atomic weight). It has its own unique electronic configuration as well.
2. Physical description. Gold has a high density and in room temperature it weighs around 19.3 g.cm-3. Its melting point can be measured through 3 different temperature reading options. Unlike water, this precious metal has a very high boiling point, whereby it needs to reach at least 2856 degrees Celsius to start boiling. It fuses and vaporizes at 12.55 kJ mol-1 and 324 kJ mol-1.
3. Atomic description. Gold has its own unique states of oxidation. Based on Pauling scale its electronegativity is about 2.5. Its atomic, covalent and Van de Waals radius are around 144, 136 and 166 picometres. Released energy from ionization is around 890 kJ.mol-1 (1st) and 1980 kJ.mol-1 (2nd).
Gold is actually a word originating from ‘geolu’ picked from the old Anglo-Saxon word that brings the meaning of ‘yellow’. ‘Au’, gold’s chemical symbol, is taken from the Latin word ‘aurum’ which means gold. The actual moment when this precious metal was first found is still unknown. Some claimed it to be 1848 in California. However, it was discovered that gold was widely used during the ancient era of the Egyptians and Greeks, to name a few.
Gold plays a big role in the society as it is a symbol of value and wealth. Apart from silver and copper, gold has been used a lot in the making of coins. This precious metal has been used as an item of exchange or as a method of payment. It is measured using gram and troy weight. In order to identify the percentage of this precious metal in an item, carat is being utilized as the main method of measurement.
The price of this particular metal depends highly on current market value, and the benchmark price is determined on a daily basis on the London market. The changes in price occur twice in a day, i.e. in the morning and afternoon.
Last but not least, the price of this precious metal is fixed by the Nova Scotia bank, HSBC and Barclays Capital, to name a few. London Gold Market Fixing (Ltd.) and its members are responsible in coming up with the price fixing procedure.
Source by Arto Laakso
Gold - The Precious and Most In-Demand Metal
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