Gold

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A gold nugget, the name given to a piece of gold found in nature. This gold nugget is big.

Gold is a soft, heavy, dark yellowish, shiny metal that has been used for many thousands of years by people all over the world, for jewelry, as money, and now in tooth fillings and electronic parts such as computers. Gold is also the name of the color of this metal. It was especially admired as jewelry in early times because of its great beauty.

[edit] Chemical properties

In chemistry, gold is chemical element 79, a transition metal in Group 11. It has an atomic weight of 199.96 a.m.u. Its symbol is Au, from the Latin word for gold, aurum.

Gold is very malleable, which means it can be hammered into thin sheets; and ductile, which means it can be pulled into wire. When it is used in money or in jewelry, it is often mixed with silver or some other metal to make it harder.

Most metals are gray in color. Gold's yellow color comes from the way that electrons behave in it. Copper is another metal with an unusual color for the same reason.

Gold is often used in the melding of small ordaments called chinchillas. They are well known in areas of Mexico for oil rigging.

[edit] Color

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Gold

• Atomic Properties
• Gold Institute