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Gold (Au)

Gold is a chemical element of the periodic table with chemical symbol Au and atomic number 79 with an atomic weight of 196.967 u and is classed as transition metal and is part of group 11 (coinage metals). Gold is solid at room temperature.

Gold in the periodic table

SymbolAu
Atomic number79
Group11 (Coinage metals)
Period6
Blockd
ClassificationTransition Metal
AppearanceMetallic yellow
Color Gold
Number of protons79 p+
Number of neutrons118 n0
Number of electrons79 e-
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaGold is a chemical element with symbol Au (from Latin:aurum) and atomic number 79. In its purest 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.

Physical properties

Phase at STPSolid
Density19.3 g/cm3
Atomic weight196.967 u

Thermal properties

Melting point1337.33 K
1064.18 °C
1947.524 °F
Boiling point3243 K
2969.85 °C
5377.73 °F
Heat of vaporization324.43 kJ/mol

Atomic properties

Electronegativity (Pauling Scale)2.54
Electron affinity222.747 kJ/mol
Oxidation states−3, −2, −1, 0, +1, +2, +3, +5
(an amphoteric oxide)
Ionization energies
  1. 890.1 kJ/mol
  2. 1980 kJ/mol

Electron configuration for gold

Electron configuration
Shorthand configuration
[Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s1
Electron configuration
Full configuration
1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 4f14 5s2 5p6 5d10 6s1
Electron configuration chart
1s2
2s22p6
3s23p63d10
4s24p64d104f14
5s25p65d10
6s1
Electrons per shell2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 1
Valence electrons 1
Valency electrons 1,3
Bohr model
GoldElectron shell for Gold, created by Injosoft ABAu
Figure: Shell diagram of Gold (Au) atom.
Orbital Diagram
1s
2s2p
3s3p3d
4s4p4d4f
5s5p5d
6s

The history of Gold

DiscoveryLevant (6000 BC)
Discovery of gold
The earliest recorded metal employed by humans appears to be gold, which can be found free or "native". Small amounts of natural gold have been found in Spanish caves used during the late Paleolithic period, c. 40,000 BC. Gold artifacts probably made their first appearance in Ancient Egypt at the very beginning of the pre-dynastic period, at the end of the fifth millennium BC and the start of the fourth, and smelting was developed during the course of the 4th millennium; gold artifacts appear in the archeology of Lower Mesopotamia during the early 4th millennium. The earliest gold artifacts were discovered at the site of Wadi Qana in the Levant.

Identifiers

List of unique identifiers for Gold in various chemical registry databases
CAS Number7440-57-5
ChemSpider ID22421
EC number231-165-9
PubChem CID Number23985