Gold

Gold (pronounced /gold/) is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from the Latin aurum, meaning shining dawn)
and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal which, for many centuries, has been used as
money, a store of value and in jewelry. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, underground "veins"
and in alluvial deposits. It is one of the coinage metals. Gold is dense, soft, shiny and the most malleable
and ductile of the known metals. Pure gold has a bright yellow color traditionally considered attractive.

Gold formed the basis for the gold standard used before the fiat currency monetary system was employed by
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). It is specifically
against IMF regulations to base any currency against gold for all IMF member states. The ISO currency code
of gold bullion is XAU.

Modern industrial uses include dentistry and electronics, where gold has traditionally found use because of
its good resistance to oxidative corrosion.

Chemically, gold is a trivalent and univalent transition metal. Gold does not react with most chemicals, but
is attacked by chlorine, fluorine, aqua regia and cyanide. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys,
but does not react with it. Gold is insoluble in nitric acid, which will dissolve silver and base metals,
and this is the basis of the gold refining technique known as "inquartation and parting". Nitric acid has
long been used to confirm the presence of gold in items, and this is the origin of the colloquial term
"acid test," referring to a gold standard test for genuine value

Characteristics

Gold is the most malleable and ductile metal; a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of one square meter,
or an ounce into 300 square feet. Gold leaf can be beaten thin enough to become translucent.
The transmitted light appears greenish blue, because gold strongly reflects yellow and red.

Gold readily forms alloys with many other metals. These alloys can be produced to increase the hardness or
to create exotic colors (see below). Gold is a good conductor of heat and electricity, and is not affected
by air and most reagents. Heat, moisture, oxygen, and most corrosive agents have very little chemical effect
on gold, making it well-suited for use in coins and jewelry; conversely, halogens will chemically alter gold,
and aqua regia dissolves it via formation of the chloraurate ion.

Common oxidation states of gold include +1 (gold(I) or aurous compounds) and +3 (gold(III) or auric compounds).
Gold ions in solution are readily reduced and precipitated out as gold metal by adding any other metal as the
reducing agent. The added metal is oxidized and dissolves allowing the gold to be displaced from solution and
be recovered as a solid precipitate.

Recent research undertaken by Sir Frank Reith of the Australian National University shows that microbes play
an important role in forming gold deposits, transporting and precipitating gold to form grains and nuggets
that collect in alluvial deposits.

High quality pure metallic gold is tasteless, in keeping with its resistance to corrosion (it is metal ions
which confer taste to metals).

In addition, gold is very dense, a cubic meter weighing 19300 kg. By comparison, the density of lead is
11340 kg/m³, and the densest element, iridium, is 22650 kg/m³.