City of GoldCity of Gold

Mrs. McLellanMrs. McLellanChemistry 12/DChemistry 12/D

Nicole SimmonsNicole Simmons

Introduction to AuGold (symbol Au) is a chemical

element with an atomic number of 79. It is dense, soft, and shiny. Gold is the most malleable and ductile pure metal known and is shiny deep yellow, like shown in the picture.

Uses of Gold..

Exchange for payment or Investment

• Gold is used in coins as well as sold pure, which is then exchanged for money or used as payment. It is also bought and instead of exchanged, kept to gain value due to the worlds limited supply.

Jewelry!Gold is known as the element most preferred for beauty. Not only in American culture but also all over the world gold jewelry is used to represent meaning for a certain something pertaining to that person, making it the most commonly owned pure metal.

Foods and Medicine• We even eat gold!

Depending on where it’s found, Gold Flake, Spice or Dust is a pricey spice used on food for elegancy. There is also an alcoholic drink called Gold Flake that has real gold flakes inside the product.

•Gold is also used in medicine, as some of the salts contained within the substance have anti-inflammatory properties.

Protective Coatings

• Because of the strong reflective potential of gold it is used in coatings of satellites, infrared faceplates in thermal protection suits, astronauts' helmets and in some electric planes used by the military.

• Gold is applied to the reflective layer on some high end CDs.

Gold is also a good reflector of electromagnetic radiation such as visible and infrared lights, as well as radio waves.

Electrical Wiring

• Gold is used in electrical wiring because it is such a good natural conductor. It is used in Audio, video, and USB cables.

• It is also used in electric microscopes and applied as a conductive coating to a specimen to improve the quality of view, and as a conductor in most ordinary cellular phones.

Gold and Heat• Because au

particles are easily controlled and dissipated, gold is a factor in a lot of car engines to help cool them down.

•Another interesting thing I learned about gold was that because of its heat dissipation rate it is used in the windows of an aircraft cockpit for de-icing.

Gold is used in thermostats in homes to help control the heat and air quality of a house, and to prevent condensation and protect the home structure.

Uses of Gold Cont…

Some more general uses of gold include toners in photographs to make pictures more presentable, a colouring agent in glass (two uses, in cranberry glass to give red colour and in shaded windows to reflect sun light), and used in thread to keep it strong during embroidering.

What’s the Problem?

• With all these up rising uses of the gold element, there has to be some sort of consequence to our environment. Gold is a natural mineral found in the Earth, and naturally when something is taken and not replaced, the world becomes imbalanced. Unfortunately gold is not a renewable substance, this means we have a finite supply and cannot return it as a mineral…

Issues Continued

• With the rapid growth of economies in the 20th century, the increasing foreign exchange rates, and the gold mines at constant with the trade market, its only a matter of time before the gold well runs dry.

• Not to mention the international political crisis gold has put the world into by promoting capitalism and fueling warfare.

“In American it’s bling bling, out here it’s bling bang”. – Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond

A Little HistoryThe Gold Rush

The Gold Rush is a movement by migration of workers into a certain area in the hopes of discovering gold. There has been Gold Rushes since documented in the 1690’s and continued until today, but with all the pure use of the substance in early Egypt and used by ancient peoples it is easy to consider a much longer time line.

The US Gold Rush in 1848–1852 in Sierra Nevada directly led to the settlement of what is now California.

The End