What is Gold atom?

     

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au  and atomic number 79, making it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally.  In a pure form, it is a bright, slightly reddish yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal.  Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element.  It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions.  Gold often occurs in free elemental form, as nuggets or grains, in rocks, in veins, and in alluvial deposits.  IT occurs in a sold solution series with the native element silver naturally alloyed with other metals like copper and palladium and also as mineral inclusions such as within pyrite.  Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium.

     Gold is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve in aqua regia which forms a soluble tetrachloroaurate anion.  Gold is insoluble in nitric acid, which dissolves silver and base metals, a property that has long been used to refine gold and to confirm the persence of gold in metallic objects, giving rise to the term acid test.  gold also dissolves in alkaline solution of cyanide, which are used in mining and electroplating.   Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, but this is not a chemical reaction.

     A relatively rare element, gold is a precious metal that has been used for coinage, jewelry, and other arts throughout recorded history.  In the past, a gold standard was often implemented as a monetary policy, but gold coins ceased to be minted as a circulating currency in the 1930s, and the world gold standard was abandoned for a first currency system after 1971.

     A total of 197576 tonnes of gold exists above ground, as of 2019.  This is equal to a cube with each side measuring roughly 21.7 metres.  The world consuption of new gold produced is about 50% in jewelry.