Gold, nothing can compare to this precious metal. A symbol of wealth and prosperity, it has been a value for explorers and adventurers and a lure for conquerors. Today it is vital to commerce and finance; popular in ornamentation, and increasing importance in technology.
The nature of gold is diverse. The chemical element gold is a heavy, soft metal. It weighs nearly twice as much as lead. Shiny and deep yellow in color, gold is one of two metals, which are not gray or white when pure. Gold is the most ductile of metals.
Properties of gold are:
? Symbol - Au
? Atomic Number – 79
? Atomic Weight – 196.967
? Electron Configuration - -32-18-1
? Group in Periodic Table – 1B
? Density at 68 F – 19.3 g/cm^3
? Boiling Point – 5,370.8 F
? Melting Point – 1,945.4 F
? Number of Protons/Electrons – 79
? Number of Neutrons – 118
? Classification – Transition Metal
? Crystal Structure – Cubic
Facts:
? Date of Discovery – Circa 3000 BC
? Discover – Unknown
? Name of Origin – From the Old English word geolo (yellow)
? Symbol Origin – From the Latin word aurum (gold)
? Uses – electronics, jewelry, coins
? Obtained From – crust of the earth, copper ores
Atomic and Chemical Properties:
In it’s usual state – atomic mass number 197 – gold is stable. However, there are radioactive (unstable) isotopes of mass number 186 to 196 and 198 to 203. Gold normally exhibits a chemical valence of one or three.
Gold is the “noblest'; of the noble metals (gold, platinum, palladium, and rhodium), so termed because of their inertness, or reluctance to enter into chemical reactions. Gold will not react with common acids but is attacked by a three-to-one mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids. This combination is called aqua regia because it reacts with the so-called royal metal. Gold will not combine directly with oxygen, but oxides may be formed indirectly. Gold will also combine with the halogens (fluorine, chlorine bromine, and iodine) and with the cyanides.
The purity of gold is expressed in Karats (KT), on a scale of 24, or in fineness, on a scale of 1,000. Pure gold is 24 Karat or 1,000 fine. An alloy containing 75 percent gold would be described as 18- Karat gold or 750 fine.
History:
(Sanskrit Jval; Anglo – Saxon gold; L. aurum, gold) Known and highly valued from earliest times, gold is found in nature as the free metal and in tellurides; it is very widely distributed and is almost always associated with quarts or pyrite.
“In the years which followed the gold discoveries, society was not stratified. Moral and religious principles were often disregarded, and all kinds of irregular situations could be found.”3
Gold has been valued in our cultural history for as long as societies have been able to adopt this valuable metal’s unique properties. Gold is unique in its inherent marvellous glossy shine. Gold is particularly malleable, conducts electricity, doesn’t blemish and blends well with other metals. Because of these exclusive properties, gold creates its ways in our everyday life in many ways or form. Gold has always had remarkable significance, shown by most civilizations as a symbol of wealth and power. Gold has captivated most of cultures around the world and the passion for it brings to the extermination of some cultures and the growth in condition of others. This essay explores the use of gold over time and perception of the cultures that surround by gold.
On January 24, 1848, James Wilson Marshall made the discovery of gold in the foothills of Sierra Nevada Mountains near Coloma, California. The discovery by the American carpenter lead to the “greatest mass migration in the history of the United States, . . . (98).” Despite the efforts of keeping the news from leaking out to the public, the news rapidly spread out, and by mid-March a newspaper reported with obvious lack of credibility that gold was found at Sutter’s Mill. At first the people from town didn’t quite found credible such discovery for the lack of evidence, but on May 12, Samuel Brannan proved the scarcity of the resource wrong by show casting a bottle full of gold dust, from there on the beginning of the
The strange case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde share many of the same ideas and characteristics with The Incredible Hulk comics and the same can be said about Two-Face from Batman and Satan from Satan’s Fall. The main conflict of the novel The Strange of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde mainly focuses on the chemist Dr.Jekyll and his evil side known as Mr.Hyde who he transforms into. Jekyll has difficulty trying to resist from turning into Mr. Hyde. The Incredible Hulk comics overall conflict is Bruce Banner trying to live alongside and contain the threat of the hulk. The four characters have many key characteristics they share. Jekyll and Banner are trying to get rid of their counterpart or control them. Jekyll and Banner both do not like their counterpart
-Discuss the silver vs. gold argument, listing at least one argument for silver and one argument for gold.
The glorious days of the imperial giants have passed, marking the death of the infamous and grandiose era of imperialism. George Orwell's essay, Shooting an Elephant, deals with the evils of imperialism. The unjust shooting of an elephant in Orwell's story is the central focus from which Orwell builds his argument through the two dominant characters, the elephant and its executioner. The British officer, the executioner, acts as a symbol of the imperial country, while the elephant symbolizes the victim of imperialism. Together, the solider and the elephant turns this tragic anecdote into an attack on the institution of imperialism.
These issues are not blatantly propagated by people, but these are considered “nonconscious cognitive processes” (Weichsellbaumer 2005, 327) Normally the gender pay gap is decreased by allowing women into higher education and into more selective universities, (Bobbitt-Zeher 1-2) while also imposing laws that help to generate a societal change in the way that women are viewed. Sometimes that societal change happens because women are allowed to receive an education; and then they are able to implement the change needed. Education (Bobbitt-Zeher 2) seems to be one of the stepping-stones of equality because once women have that they are able to fight for equality by becoming part of the system and attempting to change it. Cuba is a good example of a country that has made an effort to close a gender gap in their society, and they really only succeeded in allowing women into higher education. (Gonzalez) They have implemented laws that prohibit blatant discrimination against women in higher education and in society at large, but these laws were not enacted or pushed by the Cuban women and have not succeeded in erasing the pay gap or changing antiquated views of women’s place in society (Hees 152). The attributed reason for these laws not erasing a gender pay gap is because women were not the ones fighting for it and the stereotypical female household roles are still
In “Shooting an Elephant” writer George Orwell illustrates the terrible episode that explains more than just the action of “shooting an elephant.” Orwell describes the scene of the killing of an elephant in Burma and reveals a number of emotions he experienced during the short, but traumatic event. Effectively, the writer uses many literary techniques to plant emotions and create tension in this scene, leading to an ironic presentation of imperialism. With each of the realistic descriptions of the observing multitude and the concrete appeal of the narrator’s pathos, Orwell thrives in persuading the audience that imperialism not only has a destructive impact on those being governed under the imperialists’ oppressive power, but also corrupts
Potassium is a solid silvery white element. It is soft and can be cut with a knife. Potassium is the least dense known metal, besides lithium. It is the seventh most abundant element. It makes up about 1.5% by weight of the earth's crust. It decomposes in water because of the hydrogen. It usually catches fire during reaction with water.
The gold standard was a commitment from participating countries to set their currencies in terms of specified amounts of gold. The country’s government allows its currency to be converted into a set amount of gold and vice verse. The main benefit of a gold standard is to help keep inflation low since it is caused by changes in the supply and demand of money and goods. The government cannot print too much money because the supply of money would increase, but the value of gold would remain the same and eventually would result in the treasury running out of gold. This is tricky because the government could not increase the amount of money in circulation without also increasing the country’s gold reserves. The extensive use of the gold standard implies a system of fixed exchange rates where gold is really the only
Condoms, thought they are not covered by insurance, are available over-the-counter in any drugstore. The statistic are quite eye opening as “American women spend about 68 percent more than men in out-of-pocket health care costs, … attributed to the lack of adequate coverage of reproductive health services” (Greenberger 1).College campus give them for free and when walking in to any local clinic, they are there for grabs. It’s somehow ok to encourage the use of condoms for men and have them quickly accessible, but somehow it’s not when is for the pill for women. The United States culture says “Don’t be a fool, Cover your tool” or “Wrap it before you tap it”, and my personal favorite “Before you bag her, sheath your dagger!”, but where are the slogans for a positive use of the pill. Even though the use of condoms prevent many STD’s that the pill does not, if there is healthy relationship between partners, the woman should not feel as that the men is more likely to be the deciding factor for the creating of their
I am going to discuss about the element known as gold in my assignment. To describe the element gold in simple terms, I can only say that it is an element (chemical element). This element is denoted by the symbol Au. It has an atomic number of seventy nine (79). I will describe quite a number of things concerning gold as an element. To begin with is:
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There are many forms of birth control. The topic of condom use has caused some to argue that they should be readily available to teens, I truly think that there are other forms of birth control that are more effective, such as the pill and girls should be given the proper education in order to make the right choices when it comes to protection. Condoms are important to use don’t get me wrong but many times they can break or can be ineffective. Plus let’s face it, in the heat of the moment lack of a condom always doesn’t prevent it from happening. Pregnant teens often delude themselves into thinking that if they are swept away by passion, then they aren’t really to blame; it’s simply an accident. According to Centers for Disease Control “In 2010, teen pregnancy and childbirth accounted for at least $9.4 billion in costs to U.S. taxpayers for increased health care and foster care, increased incarceration rates among children of teen parents, and lost tax revenue because of lower educational attainment and income among teen mothers” (CDC, 2014) Birth control pills are a cheaply made, more effective form of birth control. If the pill was cheaper and easier to get, more teens would be protected and less would get