9.46 Gold Facts & Properties

Gold is a shiny metal that people wear as jewelry, but it’s also good for many other things. Come learn about gold, its properties, what it is used for aside from jewelry, and some other cool facts about this expensive metal.

What is Gold?

Imagine scooping up a bunch of small rocks from the bottom of a river with a screen sifter. You shake the rocks back and forth, looking for something shiny. You keep shaking until all the water and grains of sand are gone. Then you see it! In the middle of all the rocks that are left you see a small, clumpy, shiny mass. You’ve just found a nugget of gold!

Gold nugget
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Gold is a rare, soft, yellow metal that is valuable and used in many ways. Gold is a rare material. It’s so rare that if the surface of the Earth were a gigantic bowl filled with one billion jelly beans, only three of those beans would be gold!

Gold is also expensive, but its price changes all the time. One of the highest amounts paid for gold was $1,787 per ounce. At that price, a 12-ounce can of soda full of gold would be worth over $21,000!

1. Main points:

Gold is a rare and soft yellow metal, highly valued for various uses. Its rarity is such that it would be akin to finding only three gold pieces in a billion. The price of gold fluctuates significantly, with high values reaching up to $1,787 per ounce.

2. Questions:

• Content Analysis: What are the characteristics of gold and why is it valuable?
• Thematic Analysis: How does the rarity of gold contribute to its high value?
• Socio-cultural Analysis: What impact does the fluctuating price of gold have on economies and markets?

3. Further Discussion:

• In what ways do you think gold has influenced human history and culture?

4. Answers:

• Content Analysis: "Gold is a rare, soft, yellow metal that is valuable and used in many ways."
• Thematic Analysis: "Gold is so rare that if the surface of the Earth were a gigantic bowl filled with one billion jelly beans, only three of those beans would be gold."
• Socio-cultural Analysis: "Gold is also expensive, but its price changes all the time… One of the highest amounts paid for gold was $1,787 per ounce."

Properties of Gold

Gold has some unique properties that make it good to use in a lot of different ways. For one, gold is soft and malleable (pronounced MAL-ee-uh-buhl), which means it can be hammered thin, stretched, or curved into different shapes.

It is also ductile (pronounced DUCK-tuhl), and can be pulled into long wires thinner than one of your hairs and up to 50 miles long. That’s more than 730 football fields! Heat and electricity flow through it easily, too.

Gold is also very heavy. If you bought a two-liter bottle of soda, it would weigh about five pounds. If you drank all the soda and put the same amount of gold in that bottle, it would weigh about 84 pounds!

How is Gold Used?

When you think of gold, you might think of jewelry, like rings and bracelets. Gold is used to make jewelry, but it’s also used in a lot of things you probably never thought of.

Gold face shield
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Here are some other ways gold is used:

• In some cars, gold is used to cut down on the pollution the cars put out.
• Gold conducts electricity well, so it’s used in electronics like cell phones and computers.
• Gold can be found on the face shield of astronauts’ helmets because it blocks radiation from the Sun.
• Some special medicines contain gold, allowing people to take it for certain illnesses.
• It may be used to as fillings in teeth.
• The gold medal at the Olympics is covered in a layer of gold. (The gold medals aren’t solid gold.)

Olympic gold medal
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1. Main points:

Gold’s unique properties, such as being malleable, ductile, and a good conductor of heat and electricity, make it versatile for various uses. Beyond jewelry, gold is utilized in cars for pollution control, in electronics, astronaut helmets to block radiation, in certain medicines, dental fillings, and even in Olympic gold medals.

2. Questions:

• Content Analysis: What are the physical properties of gold that make it useful in various applications?
• Thematic Analysis: How is gold used in technology and space exploration?
• Socio-cultural Analysis: Why is gold valued in items like Olympic medals and jewelry?

3. Further Discussion:

• How do you think the use of gold in technology and medicine will evolve in the future?

4. Answers:

• Content Analysis: "Gold is soft and malleable… It is also ductile… Heat and electricity flow through it easily."
• Thematic Analysis: "Gold conducts electricity well, so it’s used in electronics… Gold can be found on the face shield of astronauts’ helmets because it blocks radiation from the Sun."
• Socio-cultural Analysis: Gold’s use in Olympic medals and jewelry reflects its cultural and aesthetic value, symbolizing achievement, beauty, and prestige.

Lesson Summary

Gold is a soft, yellow metal that is valuable because it’s rare and can be used in a lot of different ways. It is malleable and can be hammered thin, and is also ductile and can be pulled into long, thin wires. Gold is used in things like jewelry, computers, phones, astronauts’ helmets, and as a layer on Olympic gold medals.