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Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal in pure form. Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions.
Gold Characteristics
Gold is the most malleable of all metals. It can be drawn into a wire of single-atom width, and then stretched considerably before it breaks. A single gram of gold can be beaten into a sheet of 1 square metre (11 sq ft), and an avoirdupois ounce into 300 square feet (28 m2). Gold leaf can be beaten thin enough to become semi-transparent. The transmitted light appears greenish-blue because gold strongly reflects yellow and red. Such semi-transparent sheets also strongly reflect infrared light, making them useful as infrared (radiant heat) shields in the visors of heat-resistant suits and in sun visors for spacesuits. Gold is a good conductor of heat and electricity.
Color
Isotopes
Metal
Electricity
What makes Gold valuable?The boton LineAside from its literal shine and the symbolic relationship with wealth that has lasted throughout human civilization, gold plays an important role as a store of value and a medium of exchange.
Unlike other commodities, gold does not get used up or consumed, imbuing the precious metal with a sense of everlasting value. Gold serves as a hedge against the declining value of currencies through inflation, which leads many investors to consider gold an alternative asset and a way of safeguarding their wealth.
Gold has held a special place in the human imagination since the beginning of recorded time. From an investment perspective, gold is attractive because of its potential to remain strong in difficult financial environments and to hedge against inflationary declines in the value of fiat currencies.
Although the U.S. dollar and other world currencies are no longer pegged to gold—as was the case when many countries operated under the gold standard—the precious metal continues to play an important role in the global economy.
Element PropertiesAtomic number
Atomic weight
Melting point
Boiling point
Specific gravity
Oxidation states
Electron configuration
79
196.96657
1,063 °C (1,945 °F)
2,966 °C (5,371 °F)
19.3 at 20 °C (68 °F)
+1, +3
[Xe]4f145d106s1Important
The United States has the world’s largest reserves of gold, amounting to 8,867.72 tons as of February 2021.
Component
SiO2
Al2O3
Fe2O3
CaO
MgO
TiO2
Na2O & K2O
SO3
Percent
20–40
10–35
5–35
1-20
0.3–4
0.5–2.5
1–4
0.1–12