10 golden facts
- Gold is an element, it consists only of gold and it is not a mixture of other substances.
- The Latin name of the gold is Aurum and means morning redemption. Hence, gold has received its chemical designation AU.
- Gold is one of the heaviest metals (almost twice as heavy as lead). If you fill a 1 liter milk package with gold, it would weigh almost 20 kg.
- The value of gold is determined daily on the major metal exchanges in London, Tokyo and New York.
- In air weighs 6-7 times as much as sand and gravel do. But under water, weighs 10-1 1 times as much as sand and gravel do.
- The gold content is measured in carat or fine. Pure gold is 24 karat or 1000 fine. If the alloy contains 75% gold, the gold content will be 18 carats, it is 75% of 24 karats.
- In theory, all the gold ever broken, about 186 700 tons, if molten and cast into a mold, would be included in a 21.3 x 21.3 x 21.3 meter cube.
- Gold is extremely stretchable and one gram of gold can be drawn to a 100 meter long thread with a thickness of only 0.0001 mm.
- Gold conducts electrical current and heat, reflects light and is not attacked by air and water.
- A gold clump – Holtermann nugget – found in Australia, weighed more than 285 kilos, or which 214 kilos were pure gold.