What is Gold?

Think for a moment back to high school chemistry class.  It has been longer for some of us than others, but try and recall the periodic table.  Here is picture of one to refresh your memory. 

Gold, Au, sits in the periodic table as element 79 and is a transition metal.  We will not get into exactly what that means for the moment, but being present in the periodic table means that gold is an element.

  Elements in their pure form cannot be broken down into simpler substances.  So pure gold is made up of only gold.  Some fashion or branded jewelry is made up of brass or stainless steel.  Unlike gold, there is no “pure” form of these materials as brass is made up of copper and zinc and stainless steel is composed of iron and carbon.  Elemental or pure gold is relatively soft, and while you most certainly do find pure gold jewelry, most often the gold is mixed with other metals to add characteristics like strength and hardness.  We discuss more about gold alloys here.

Gold is considered precious because it is rare, naturally occurring and beautiful.  There are many elements on planet earth that are much harder to come by than gold, but they are missing the beautiful color that makes gold so attractive, as well as the physical characteristics that make gold well suited for use in jewelry.  Table 1 below gives some interesting information on other rare metals found in the earth along with their market value and typical uses. Gold is also a Noble Metal, a designation given to specific metals and metal alloys due to their low reactivity.  Low reactivity basically means that there’s not much that can get the electrons within a gold atom excited.  It doesn’t tarnish when in contact with the air or your skin and tends to just chill out, happy to remain in the state that it’s in, resistant to outside influences.  (Note:  When gold is alloyed with other metals, this behavior is affected.  We discuss alloys here.)  Archaeologists can dig up 3000-year-old gold jewelry that still glitters and shines and attracts the eye.  All told, your gold jewelry is far less likely to become tarnished or discolored over years of contact with the air and your skin and should give you good value over time. 

What is gold?  Gold is a naturally occurring element (Au) found in the earths crust.  (There are rather interesting theories about how gold got to earth, and we’ll talk about that in a future post.)  Gold is rare, meaning hard to find and beautiful which allows it to command a high price.  It has a naturally occurring yellow color that retains its brilliancy after many years of use.  You can learn more about gold mining, gold refining and gold alloys in my other posts.  Along the way, we will have many conversations about why all that glitters isn’t always gold.  Thanks for reading!  Please reach out with any questions or topics you’d love to learn more about by contacting us. 

Photo courtesy of periodictable-sciencenotes.org

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