For some, its one of the most beautiful things in the world, the hallmark of luxury and wealth, adorning the necks and wrists and fingers of the most rich and glamorous everywhere. For others its nothing more than another common metal, a neutral color to paint your car or to pair with a bright outfit or to paint your face with on you way to support the Florida State Seminoles. Whatever your opinion about one of the most easily found elements on the periodic table – symbol Au, group 11, atomic number 79 – the transitional metal gold is truly engrained in the culture of almost every group of people across all continents. You probably already know that it is the common basis of currency across the world, but there are a lot of both bizarre and amazing facts about the shiny precious metal that you may or may not already know about.
9. Wear and Tear
Gold is the perfect metal for a wedding ring because they are both so precious. What you probably don’t know is that after one year of wear, approximately six milligrams of gold will have been rubbed off.
8. Heavy Burden
8. Heavy Burden
Since gold is a precious and valuable metal, it is usually only found and kept in small quantities. The largest piece of gold in the world is a gold brick that weighs 250 kg or 551lbs.
7. Familiar Face
7. Familiar Face
Plant and animal species differ from country to country, but the same is not true of gold. The shiny metal has been discovered on all seven of the Earth’s continents.
6. Common Miracles
6. Common Miracles
Fact is always stranger than fiction, sometimes more stranger than you ever realized. For instance, did you know that the power of an earthquake can turn water into gold?
5. Looking For Some Hot Stuff
5. Looking For Some Hot Stuff
Gold is a notoriously soft metal, but it actually isn’t as malleably as you think. A very pure 24 carat gold has to be heated to 1063°C or 1945°F for it to melt.
4. Gold Country
4. Gold Country
Gold can be found just about anywhere on Earth, but that doesn’t mean that it is common everywhere on Earth. The highest concentration of gold in the world can be found in Witwatersrand, South Africa, where nearly half the gold in the world has been mined.
3. Olympic Glory
3. Olympic Glory
The gold medal is the most prestigious award at the Olympic Summer and Winter Games, but it actually isn’t as gold as it appears. The medal itself is only 1.34% gold.
2. Real Thinspiration
2. Real Thinspiration
Plenty of people have their motivations to lose weight, but what about a golden reward? in 2014, Dubai created a program that pays children 2 grams of gold for every kilogram (2.2 lbs) of weight they lose.
1. Metallic Fears
1. Metallic Fears
The world is full of people who have strange fears. One of the more weird ones is aurophobia, also known as the fear of gold.
