Gold

[kopend]

is it true that it is impossible to get rid of gold


i.e you cant burn it etc

and are there any other material like this

mercury perhaps ?

[ToraToraTora]

rather than in the LHC it is very difficult to get rid of any element. Many elements decay over time, the more unstable ones, decay in nano seconds so they would change. Gold has a stable isotope 197 so That would take an atom smasher to break it down.

[EDDIE51]

You can't 'get rid' of any Element,not only Gold.
You can only make it a part of a compound. The Element is still there but in another form. Burning is just combining an Element or compound with Oxygen( Oxidation) Carbon burns to form the oxides of Carbon, Carbon monoxide or Carbon Dioxide. Gold will not Oxidise or burn but it can form part of other compounds.

[Zacs-Master]

I find it fascinating that Gold and other elements are formed from exploding stars and that's the only reason they exist on Earth.

http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=169

[EDDIE51]

Some information on Gold here
http://www.britannica.com/science/gold-chemical-element
Gold is one of (if not the most ) stable of all the Elements it only forms a few compounds , scroll down to see them.

[Noe-schitt]

If you send it to me you will never see it again Guarenteed

[fiction-factory]

Gordon Brown managed to get rid of half of the UK's gold reserves quickly without any difficulties.
You can't burn lots of elements except at exceptional temperatures, and some have much higher melting points

[Prudie]

I once read that if you took all the gold that's been mined in the world ever and made it into one solid block it would fit under the Eiffel Tower

[naomi24]

I managed to get rid of a very expensive pair of gold earrings. I accidentally threw them in the fire.

[EDDIE51]

Naomi, if you had waited until the fire went out and the ashes cooled , you could have racked through them and got your Gold back intact! The melting point is 1200 C far hotter than a home fire at around 800 C.

[EDDIE51]

The earrings may have softened and become misshapen but you would still have the full Gold weight.

[bhg481]

Not nit-picking Eddie but the melting temperature of gold came up on Eggheads the other night and the answer was 1064. I always remember it as 1066, a particularly easy number for the Brits to remember.

[EDDIE51]

^^ Yes I am getting confused with the temp used to cast Gold to ensure it runs freely,1064 is the melting point. Still a good 100 higher than the normal home fire.
naomi, even if the Gold had melted it would still have been recoverable as as 'blobs' with the same weight / scrap value.

[naomi24]

Eddie, //if you had waited until the fire went out and the ashes cooled , you could have racked through them and got your Gold back intact! //

It didn't occur to me to do that. I wish it had - but then the earrings would still have been gone.

[beso]

Gold jewellery is rarely pure as pure gold (24 carat) is too soft. Most commonly it is alloyed with silver and/or copper.

The melting point of "18 carat gold" (75 percent pure) is between 915C and 963C depending on the alloying metal.