The Many Uses of Gold

By Will Paul

Gold has a diversity of special properties that make it the most useful of all the minerals mined today. This is because gold conducts electricity and does not tarnish. Gold is very easy to work with and can be drawn into wire. Gold can also be hammered into thin sheets and can be mixed with different metals. The wonderful color of gold leaves a special impression on most people.

Gold has a long history. When the "New World" was first explored by the Spanish, they met the native South Americans for the first time. Even though they both lived entirely different lives and spoke different languages they had one thing in common; that was gold. Most societies hold gold in the highest esteem and have always used it to make the most important objects. Today we continue to use gold for objects including wedding rings, jewelry, Oscars, Grammy's and money.

The first use of gold was over 6000 years ago and was used for ornamental objects. Gold is found in its pure state and very easy to work with. Jewelry tops the list for the primary use of gold in the United States. Most of the gold found today is newly mined or recycled and about 78% of gold consumed today in used to manufacture jewelry. Throughout history gold has always been used as a form of medium for bartering or used as money. The gold used for financial backing for currency was usually in the form of gold bars and was also known as gold bullion. The gold bars helped to keep manufacturing costs to a minimum and was also convenient for handling and to store. Many governments and individuals hold investments of gold in the form of bullion.

Gold is used in the industrial field by manufacturers of electronics. Most electronics use very low voltages and currents and can be easily interrupted by corrosion or tarnish at the contact points. Since gold is a highly efficient conductor that can easily carry these low currents without corroding it is used in many things. Gold is used in connectors, switch and relay contacts, soldered joints and connection strips.

Gold can be found in many different areas and places in a desktop and laptop computer. Gold works well for computers because allows for rapid and accurate transmission of digital information. It is better than any other metal for this purpose. Edge connectors used to mount microprocessors and memory chips onto the motherboard are made of gold. The gold in these components are generally electroplated onto other metals and have small amounts of cobalt or nickel in them to increase durability.

Gold is a very versatile and has played an important part in history and is still as valuable today. It takes a lot of natural resources to mine for gold. The high demand for gold makes the cost of gold rise. This could be to your advantage if you have some gold pieces of jewelry that you no longer wear. You can recycle your precious metals for money and also be helping the environment. - 29969

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