Gold Mining Essay Example
Properties and uses;
Gold is a pure chemical substance that consists of one type of atom, in other words it is a pure substance. You can find gold on the periodic table with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79 (this is also known as the proton number). Gold is a metal which is soft, shiny, malleable, ductile and dense. It is also a very special metal as it is very rare and resists attacks by most acids. Pure gold has a bright yellow colour which does not oxidize in air or water and therefore does not rust. Out of all the metals gold is the most malleable and ductile of all metals. A single gram of gold can be beaten into a sheet of 1square meter; a gold leaf can be beaten thin enough to become transparent to the human eye. Gold creates alloys with other metals easily. These alloys can be made in order to modify the hardness, and to control melting and boiling points. Gold is a good conductor of electricity and heat as it is a metal. Gold is unaffected by air, moisture and is therefore is a good material for the use of coins, jewellery and as a protective on other more reactive metals.
Gold.[online].Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold. [21 April 2012]
About 78% of gold each year is used to make jewellery. The perfect properties make it perfect for manufacturing jewellery. Gold itself is too soft to handle the pressure applied to many jewellery items; therefore craftsmen increase the durability by making an alloy with other metals such as copper, silver and platinum. Because of the high value of gold and the limited supply it has long been used as an item of exchange for money. The gold that is used as a financial backing for currency is most often held in the form of a gold bar, also known as “gold bullion”. Even today many governments, individuals and institutions hold investments of gold in the form of bullion. Gold coins were commonly used through the early 1900s. Gold is used in many places in a desktop or laptop computer. The rapid and
Gold is a pure chemical substance that consists of one type of atom, in other words it is a pure substance. You can find gold on the periodic table with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79 (this is also known as the proton number). Gold is a metal which is soft, shiny, malleable, ductile and dense. It is also a very special metal as it is very rare and resists attacks by most acids. Pure gold has a bright yellow colour which does not oxidize in air or water and therefore does not rust. Out of all the metals gold is the most malleable and ductile of all metals. A single gram of gold can be beaten into a sheet of 1square meter; a gold leaf can be beaten thin enough to become transparent to the human eye. Gold creates alloys with other metals easily. These alloys can be made in order to modify the hardness, and to control melting and boiling points. Gold is a good conductor of electricity and heat as it is a metal. Gold is unaffected by air, moisture and is therefore is a good material for the use of coins, jewellery and as a protective on other more reactive metals.
Gold.[online].Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold. [21 April 2012]
About 78% of gold each year is used to make jewellery. The perfect properties make it perfect for manufacturing jewellery. Gold itself is too soft to handle the pressure applied to many jewellery items; therefore craftsmen increase the durability by making an alloy with other metals such as copper, silver and platinum. Because of the high value of gold and the limited supply it has long been used as an item of exchange for money. The gold that is used as a financial backing for currency is most often held in the form of a gold bar, also known as “gold bullion”. Even today many governments, individuals and institutions hold investments of gold in the form of bullion. Gold coins were commonly used through the early 1900s. Gold is used in many places in a desktop or laptop computer. The rapid and