Chemistry Week 3

Element of the Week: Gold (Au)

Discovered: approximately 3,000 bc.

A soft metal with a characteristic yellow colour. It is chemically unreactive, although it will dissolve in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids). Most mined gold is stored as bullion. It is also, however, used extensively in jewellery, either in its pure form or as an alloy. The term ‘carat’ indicates the amount of gold present in an alloy. 24-carat is pure gold, but it is very soft. 18- and 9-carat gold alloys are commonly used because they are more durable. Dentists sometimes use gold alloys in fillings, and a gold compound is used to treat some cases of arthritis. Gold nanoparticles are increasingly being used as industrial catalysts. Vinyl acetate, which is used to make PVA (for glue, paint and resin), is made using a gold catalyst.

Group	11	Melting point	1064.18°C, 1947.52°F, 1337.33 K
Period	6	Boiling point	2836°C, 5137°F, 3109 K
Block	d	Density (g cm−3)	19.3
Atomic number	79	Relative atomic mass	196.967

Comment on "From Lipstick to Burgers"

This article was majorly depressing. The only good point was the excellent historical framing, and the fact that Monsanto actually lost a case to someone last year and has to pay up. Nearly everyone I love has some form of chronic illness, and I think the fact that we're swimming in a soup of barely-if-ever tested chemicals has a lot to do with our rising rates of chronic disease and cancer. I really can't believe that Roundup is still legal, and hope that it will become illegal in my lifetime.

Comment on "Advancing Green Chemistry" website
This was a heartening place to look after the depression of the above article :) It's good to see that a group of conscientious ppl are putting in a concerted effort to make changes that will protect our future as a planet and a species. I wish that everyone on the path to become a chemist, engineer, or other kind of scientist was required to take a course on green chemistry.