Gold has been around since pre-historic ages. Its symbol is Au, originates from the Latin word for “shining dawn” is “aurum”. It was used even when Latin was a predominate language. From the pre-historic ages of gold’s discovery there have been many advances in chemistry, and science in general. So now one is able to find out gold’s atomic structure, and is able to find out pretty much anything that they wish to know about gold. Gold has several chemical and physical properties, which distinguishes it from other elements. Gold is used for more things than what one is accustomed to it being used for; gold is still used in jewelry and decoration, but it is now used in medicine and electronics and a variety of other things.
Gold has several uses, although it is not the most abundant element; it’s only found on two continents. Gold is seventy-fifth on the list of element abundance on the earth’s crust. (Glenwood High School, 2001, online) Gold is usually found in veins or in alluvial deposits. (About, Inc, 2003, online) These veins are generally located underwater or in nature. Quartz, pyrite and other minerals are found near the gold deposits. These deposits are abundant in South Africa and the United States of America. (Winter, 2003, online) People have developed many uses for gold since its unknown discovery in the pre-historic ages. (About, Inc, 2003, online) Gold is used in ornamentation such as decoration in objects and buildings, and jewelry. (World Gold Council, 2003, online) Gold is also used in electronics and micro-mechanics by makings plating and reflectors. (Heilman, 2002, online) A very familiar use is that of coinage. (Winter, 2003, online) Less familiar to others is gold’s usage in medicine, which has gold catalysts being used and also a certain type of prostheses made of gold parts. (World Gold Council, 2003, online) Radioisotopes are used in biological research and for treatment of cancer. (Glenwood High School, 2001, online) Gold is a useful element with many characteristic properties.
There are several things about gold that distinguishes it from other elements. Gold’s atomic number is seventy-nine thus making it a metal. (Heilman, 2002, online) This then lends to the characteristic yellow-metallic color of gold. (Winter, 2003, online) When finely separated gold is black. This yellow-metallic element’s crystal structure is face center cubic crystals. (Heilman, 2002, online) This is caused by gold’s atomic structure, which is shown in appendix A. Gold has seventy-nine electrons, seventy-nine protons, and one hundred eighteen neutrons. (Bentor, 2003, online) Gold has thirty-seven isotopes. (Heilman, 2002, online) The half-life of the isotopes varies from four milliseconds to one hundred eighty-six and one-tenth days. Only one out of those thirty-seven isotopes is stable. (Heilman, 2002, online) Therefore, with the knowledge of the atomic structure, the atomic mass of gold is one hundred ninety-six and nine thousand six hundred sixty-five ten-thousandths u. (Heilman, 2002, online) These things separate gold from other elements.
There are several characteristic chemical and physical properties of gold. Examples of chemical properties would be chemical reactions, and examples of physical properties would be density, and boiling point. A chemical property can be described as something that takes place to an element that effects its chemical makeup, and is characteristic to every sample of that specific type of element. Most reagents do not affect gold. (Winter, 2003, online) Therefore gold is not very reactive. (Heilman, 2002, online) Gold will only dissolve in cyanide. (World Gold Council, 2003, online) A physical property can be described as something that pertains to the physical being of the element, and is characteristic to every sample of that specific type of element. Gold’s density is nineteen and three tenths g/ml. (Heilman, 2002, online) The standard state of gold is a solid at two hundred ninety-eight K. The boiling point of this solid is three thousand one hundred thirty K, while the melting point is one thousand three hundred thirty-seven and fifty-eight hundredths K. (Heilman, 2002, online) Gold has a high corrosion resistance and a hardness of surprisingly enough only two and five tenths to three. (World Gold Council, 2003, online) Gold is a good reflector of infrared radiation. (About, Inc, 2003, online) Along with that, gold is a good conductor of heat and energy. (Winter, 2003, online) To be more specific, gold’s electrical resistivity at room temperature is twenty-two thousandths micro-ohm m, and gold’s thermal conductivity at room temperature is three hundred ten W. (World Gold Council, 2003, online) Thus with all these properties, gold can be very helpful to people. Gold is used very often in medicine. Middle ear implants are used because of gold’s good conductivity and corrosion resistance. Thin gold membranes in drug delivery microchips are filled with chemicals as a way to administer medicine. When gold compounds are used in medicine it is known as chrysotherapy, which is effective with patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Along those lines, gold complexes are often used with cancer and AIDS patients. (World Gold Council, 2003, online) The properties of gold make it effective in medicine.
Since gold’s discovery people have found many uses for it. Gold is helpful in medicine because of its chemical and physical properties. Gold is not the most abundant element, but it is widely distributed. It has several uses, including decoration, electronics, and medicine. Gold’s atomic structure gives gold its cubic crystal structure. This yellow-metallic element is one of the most useful elements.
