Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from Latin: aurum) and
atomic number 79, making it one of the higher atomic number elements
that occur naturally. In a pure 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. It is one of the least
reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions.
Gold often occurs in free elemental (native) form, as nuggets or
grains, in rocks, in veins, and in alluvial deposits. It occurs in a
solid solution series with the native element silver (as electrum) and
also naturally alloyed with copper and palladium. Less commonly, it
occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium (gold
tellurides).Gold is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve
in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid), which
forms a soluble tetrachloroaurate anion. Gold is insoluble in nitric
acid, which dissolves silver and base metals, a property that has long
been used to refine gold and to confirm the presence of gold in
metallic objects, giving rise to the term acid test. Gold also
dissolves in alkaline solutions of cyanide, which are used in mining
and electroplating. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys,
but this is not a chemical reaction. Gold Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter