GOLD
A precious metal noted for its color, luster, malleability, and freedom from rust or tarnish, Old English gold, from Proto-Germanic *gulthan “gold” (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German gold, German Gold, Middle Dutch gout, Dutch goud, Old Norse gull, Danish guld, Gothic gulþ), from PIE root ghel– (to shine), with derivatives denoting gold (the “bright” metal).
The root is the general Indo-European one for “gold,” found in Germanic, Balto-Slavic (compare Old Church Slavonic zlato, Russian zoloto, “gold”), and Indo-Iranian. Finnish kulta is from German; Hungarian izlot is from Slavic. For Latin aurum see aureate. Greek khrysos probably is from Semitic.
- Symbol: Au
- Color: slightly orange-yellow
- Density: 19.32 g/cm³
- Atomic mass: 196.97
- Atomic number: 79
- Melting point: 1,064.18 °C
Notable properties
- Gold has several qualities that have made it exceptionally valuable throughout history. The history of gold is unequaled by that of any other metal because of its perceived value from earliest times.
- Gold is one of the densest of all metals. It is a good conductor of heat and electricity.
- It is also soft and the most malleable and ductile of the elements; a troy ounce (31.1 grams) can be beaten out to 187 square feet (about 17 square metes) in extremely thin sheets called gold leaf.
Uses
- Jewelry
- Financing and investing
- Dentistry and medicine
- Aerospace
- Electronics