| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) |
Standardized Result |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cutnell, John D.& Johnson, Kenneth W. Physics 4th Edition.New York: Wiley, 1998: 308. |
|
19.3 g/m3 | ||||
| World Book Encyclopedia G. Chicago: World Book, 1993: 249. | "It's density is 19.32 grams per cubic centimeter at 20 °C. | 19.32 g/cm3 | ||||
| Strauss, Mike The Gold Rush of 1849. 2003. | "Scientifically speaking, gold has a very large density, about 19.3 gcm-3." | 19.3 g/cm3 | ||||
| Smiths, Alphers W. Elements of Physics, 5th Edition. City: McGraw Hill, 1948: 719. |
|
19.3 g/m3 | ||||
| Goldslinger. Gold Data Facts Page. 2002. | "Gold 15.6-19.4" | 15.6–19.4 g/cm3 |
Gold has been considered a commodity and very valuable for many years. Its attractiveness and physical qualities add to its value. Gold is also very soft making it easy to work with.
Density is equivalent to the mass per unit volume with the given equation:
ρ = m / V
It is commonly measured in kilograms per meter or grams per cubic centimeter.
The importance of the density of gold dates all the way back to the mid 1800s during the gold rush. Various mining techniques were developed by gold miners to search for gold in the bottom of rivers, lakes, and oceans. Panning was the most common form of gold mining because anybody could do it. Miners would swirl sand from the water in a pan until the gold flakes were separated from other sediments it was attached to. The gold flakes would fall to the bottom of the pan in the water. It was relatively easy for a miner to determine whether he had found gold or not. A miner would take a questionable piece of gold along with a piece of real gold and drop it in his pan filled with water. The real gold would fall to the bottom of the pan before the questionable piece of gold, commonly iron pyrite (fool's gold).
Gafei Szeto -- 2004