Gold : An Important Precious Metal Present In The World
Gold is a precious metal. Gold coins & gold ornaments are very popular among the people of the world. The purity of gold is expressed in terms of carat. The names of some famous jewelers situated in Kerala state, India are also mentioned in this article. But the important point regarding gold is that its price is increasing daily.
An introduction to gold
India is considered as the world's largest consumer of gold. People all over the world are always buying & storing gold for future purposes. They are mainly an important investment. It should be noted that gold got its name from the Latin name 'Aurum' which is represented by the symbol Au. In chemical terms we can say that the atomic number for gold is 79. Do you know what atomic number is? Atomic number denotes the number of protons present in the nucleus of an atom. Because of this reason atomic number is also known as proton number. This is usually represented by the letter Z. In Malayalam language, which is popular in Kerala, gold is known as swarnnam.
I hope every chemistry students are familiar with the fact that gold is a transition metal.In general we can say that the color of gold is shining which means they have a bright yellow color. I know we all are familiar with this fact. Remember that the shining appearance of gold makes it the more attractive one. In India, the kolar gold mines situated in kolar district of Karnataka is famous for gold mining. There are several methods by which gold can be removed from the ground. Uses of gold
Since gold is a valuable metal, this is mainly used for making coins, ornaments etc. These ornaments include necklaces, rings, bangles etc.Famous jewelers of Kerala
It should be noted that the following jewelers are famous in Kerala state, India for gold. Most of them are located in different districts including kottayam of Kerala. They are
1.Josco jewelers
2.Kunnathukalathil jewelers
3.Malabar gold
4.Joyalukkas
5.Bhima
6.Chemmanur fashion jewelers
7.Francis alukkas jewelers
8.Alapatt fashion jewelersSome important chemical properties of gold
It is important to note that gold is having some important properties. The main properties of gold are that they are malleable as well as ductile. Actually malleability means by hammering, the material must have an ability to form a thin sheet. But on the other hand ductility is characterized by the ability of a material to be stretched into a wire. When considering the case of heat & electricity, gold is considered to be a good conductor of both of them. I have already mentioned the use of gold. Gold is not affected by means of corrosive agents as well as moisture & so it has many uses. When taking into consideration the pure metallic gold, it should be noted that they have no smell as well as taste. Another important point regarding gold is that they are diamagnetic. I think you have an idea about isotope. Actually what are isotopes? Isotopes are atoms of the same element with the same number of protons but different number of neutrons in the nucleus. The naturally occurring stable isotope of gold is 197Au.Carats
Every person is familiar with the term carats used in gold. Actually what are carats? This is actually a measure of the purity of gold alloys. In some countries, the spelling karat is used instead of carats. Pure gold means 24 carats. Examples of countries which produce gold in the world
The following are some important examples of countries which produce gold in the world. They are
1.China
2.USA
3.Peru
4.Russia
5.Canada
6.Australia
7.South AfricaExamples of largest gold mining companies of the world
1.Newmont mining corporation
2.Goldcorp
The headquarters of Newmont Mining Corporation is at Denver, Colorado, USA. But the headquarters of Goldcorp is at Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada.Price of gold
The price of gold is increasing. It is important to note that on 20 April 2011, the price for 1 Pavan Gold in Kerala is Rs.16200. But this was only 15560 on 1 April 2011. Since the price is increasing daily, it will difficult to buy gold ornaments. But one possibility is that once there is a decrease in the prices, it is good to buy & store them for future purposes. That means in terms of difficult situations, we can use them immediately.
Now the price for 1 pavan gold is Rs 16280 in Kerala.
Regards
Asha