- Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from Latin: aurum "gold") and an atomic number of 79.
- Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster
- traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water.
- Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical
- elements solid under standard conditions. The metal therefore occurs often in free elemental (native)
- form, as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Less commonly, it occurs in
- minerals as gold compounds, usually with tellurium.
- Gold has been a valuable and highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts
- since long before the beginning of recorded history. Gold standards have been the most common basis
- for monetary policies throughout human history, being widely supplanted by fiat currency only in the
- late 20th century. Gold has also been frequently linked to a wide variety of symbolisms and ideologies.
- A total of 165,000 tonnes of gold have been mined in human history, as of 2009. This is roughly equivalent
- to 5.3 billion troy ounces or, in terms of volume, about 8500 m3, or a cube 20.4 m on a side.
- The world consumption of new gold produced is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments, and 10% in
- industry. Besides its widespread monetary and symbolic functions, gold has many practical uses in
- dentistry, electronics, and other fields. Source: Wikipedia
