Gold is the stuff of legends and dreams. Empires have been overthrown for it, pirates have taken it from them, and poor people have kept it. However, for the purposes of science, what does gold represent, and does it serve any other purpose than bling and sporting medals?

Gold is a chemical element and a substance with only one type of atom. Because gold has an atomic number of 79, a molecule's nucleus contains 79 protons. Au is the chemical name for it. Gold is the most malleable metal because it can be hammered into a one-square-meter sheet of gold foil with one gram. For comparison, a stick of gum weighs about 1 gram. Imagine being able to fit even the smallest piece of gum into one square meter!

Along with silver, platinum, palladium, and a few others, gold is a noble metal. Noble metals are frequently used in coinage and jewelry due to their resistance to oxidation and corrosion in humid environments. All of the noble metals are arranged in close proximity to one another on the periodic table of elements.

Local and cosmic origins of gold Scientists are unsure of the origin of Earth's gold deposits. Gold dust is thought to be made when two neutron stars collide, but there are many different explanations for why it is in the Earth's crust and mantle. Scientists believe that gold dust was present when the Solar System was formed. Gold, on the other hand, formed as a molten liquid and probably sank into the Earth's core. Gold can be found in Earth's crust and mantle, according to one theory, and meteors dropped billions of tonnes of space rocks on Earth nearly 4 billion years ago. A second hypothesis was recently discovered. It suggests that tectonic plate movements allowed metal-rich fluids to pass through very deep cracks and form gold deposits near the Earth's surface.

There are many different kinds of gold. As gold flows through the cracks in the Earth, it can be picked up by hot fluid and embedded in quartz veins. This can be observed in action on the Coromandel Peninsula. Crushing and chemical treatment of gold- and silver-bearing rock is required to extract the valuable element. Alluvial gold can be found in places like Otago and the West Coast because it has been eroded from the rocks and can be found in river gravel in the form of smaller flakes or larger nuggets.

The only yellow metal on Earth that can be found in its pure elemental form is gold, the oldest known element. It is thought that humans were the first to work gold in recorded history. There is evidence that people and gold have been connected since 40,000 BC.

Old methods are frequently used to measure and weigh gold. Gold is measured in carats, or ct; 24-carat gold is the purest form of elemental gold. Examples of gold alloys include the 18-ct, which consists of 18 parts gold and 6 parts other metals, the 12-ct, and so on. The seed used to balance the scales in ancient Asian markets is the source of the word "carat." Troy ounces, an ancient measurement system, are still used to trade gold. More than an ounce (28.35 g) of normal weight is carried by the troy ounce (31.10 g).

Au, which comes from the Latin word for gold, "aurum," is the chemical symbol for gold. The word "aurum" comes from an even earlier word that means "glow."

Gold is used in modern applications because it doesn't corrode, conducts electricity well, and is easy to work with because it is malleable. Gold is present in trace amounts in nearly every electronic device, from computers to GPS units. It is cost-effective to use it in electronic circuitry because of its dependability. Corrosion and tarnish have the potential to disrupt electrical currents, which is not something we want to happen to memory chips and microprocessors!