GOLD (AU)

last update 01 oct 08

* Gold is a member of the transition metals family:

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   GOLD / Au / 79

   A soft, shiny, malleable, ductile, bright yellow metal that is 
   highly resistant to corrosion.  Its symbol Au comes from the old
   Latin name for the metal, "aurum".  Only one isotope is found in
   nature, Au<197/79>; it is stable.

     atomic weight:       196.96655
     abundance:           73rd
     density:             19.3 g/cc
     melting point:       1,064 C
     boiling point:       2,808 C
     valence:             1 <3>
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Gold is of course the best-known of all precious metals, though it isn't the rarest or most expensive. It is produced at a level of a few thousand tonnes a year. Most is used in jewelry, but it is also used in electrical applications as thin-film electrical contacts. It is the most malleable of all metals and can be laid down in very thin films; an ultrathin transparent film is laid down on the canopies of some combat aircraft to provide a conductive layer that keeps radio energy from penetrating, either to block high-powered jamming beams produced by the aircraft that could fry the crew, or enemy radar beams that could glint off the irregular interior of the cockpit to give a "bright" radio return.