Discovery date : approx 3000BC
Discovered by: -
Origin of the name: The name is the Anglo-Saxon word for the metal
and the symbol comes from the Latin ‘aurum’, gold.
Allotropes : -
~>GOLD is a chemical element with symbol Au and atomic number 79. In its purest 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.
| FACT BOX | |||
| Group | 11 | Melting point | 1064.18°C, 1947.52°F, 1337.33 K |
| Period | 6 | Boiling point | 2836°C, 5137°F, 3109 K |
| Block | d | Density (g cm−3) | 19.3 |
| Atomic number | 79 | Relative atomic mass | 196.967 |
| State at 20°C | Solid | Key isotopes | 197Au |
| Electron configuration | [Xe] 4f145d106s1 | CAS number | 7440-57-5 |
| ChemSpider ID | 22421 | ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database | |
Gold has been known since prehistoric times and was one of the first metals to be worked, mainly because it was to be found as nuggets or as particles in the beds of streams. Such was the demand that by 2000 BC the Egyptians began mining gold. The death mask of Tutankhamen, who died in 1323 BC, contained 100 kg of the metal. The royal graves of ancient Ur (modern Iraq), which flourished from 3800 to 2000 BC, also contained gold objects.
The minting of gold coins began around 640 BC in the Kingdom of Lydia (situated in what is now modern Turkey) using electrum, a native alloy of gold and silver. The first pure gold coins were minted in the reign of King Croesus, who ruled from 561–547 BC.