Gold

Gold is the one metal that almost all weekend prospectors look for and it is a lot easier to distinguish then a lot of people would think. Sometimes gold is confused with iron pyrites or mica because of their similarities in color. However there are some easy ways to know which is which, in the case of iron pyrites you will be able to tell the difference because of how hard iron pyrite is which is 6. Mica is very similar to gold as far as its hardness is concerned but if pressure is placed on gold it flattens whereas mica will pulverize. Gold has a yellow color to it but it is usually found with some silver and the more silver the lighter the color yellow will be. Pure gold is soluble in aqua regia however gold that has a high silver content can be soluble in other acids. The best way to see if it is gold is by checking its specific gravity. The harness of gold is of 2.5 to 3; it has a metallic luster to it, and a specific gravity of 19.3.  

Gold’s advanced electrical conductivity, malleability, and resistance to corrosion have made it very important to the manufacture of components that are utilized in a wide range of electronic products and equipment, such as computers, telephones, cellular phones, and home appliances. Gold has surprisingly high reflective powers that are relied on in the shielding that shields spacecrafts and satellites from solar radiation and in industrial and medical lasers that use reflectors that are gold coated to focus light energy. And since gold is biologically inactive, it has developed into a fundamental tool for medical research and is even used in the direct treatment of arthritis and other complicated diseases.