Uses of Gold 

Gold has a lot of great features: it is soft and is easy to shape, it reflects light, resists rust, and is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. All these mean it can be used in a lot of different ways.

Medical Applications

Because gold can be used in living tissues without causing harm, it plays an important role in medical implants. For example, small, gold-coated tubes can be inserted into clogged arteries to improve blood flow. Other medical implants that contain gold are pace makers and insulin pumps. Gold is used in these devices because of its high level of reliability in microelectronics.

Gold is also very resistant to bacteria, so it works great in implants that can cause infections—such as for the inner ear. Gold has been used for a long time in this application, and is considered a very valuable metal for use in microsurgery of the ear.

Gold powder is becoming increasingly popular for use in pharmaceutical (medicine) applications, helping doctors to deliver precise doses of powerful drugs to the parts of the body where they are required. This is important in the treatment of a range of diseases, including cancer and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In another use, gold is used to cover anti-cancer drug chips that are implanted in the body ... when the chip is electronically activated, the casing of gold dissolves, releasing just the right amount of cancer-fighting medicine.

Environmental Applications

Scientists have recently discovered that gold can be used to help clean up the environment. Microscopic gold particles can split oxygen atoms, which creates a useful organic by-product as the oxygen atoms and carbon compounds combine. What is created is a gold catalyst that can clean up after important chemical processes that we use every day - such as after making pharmaceuticals, detergents, and food additives.

As a chemical catalyst, gold is also important for controlling pollution. A wide variety of applications are being explored that may benefit from gold's ability to clean-up chemicals-including for mercury emissions and in pollution control in diesel-powered vehicles. And gold catalysts do more than just clean up-they may be able to help us generate clean energy through fuel cells and in sensors that could detect harmful gases in manufacturing. Gold may someday also help us find new ways to make many chemicals that are important in our lives.

Electronic Applications

As one of the most effective conductors of electricity known to man, gold is the material of choice in many electronic applications, especially in telecommunications, information technology, and other high-performance applications. From mobile phones to computers, gold-plated contacts and circuit board connectors, the use of gold in electronics is increasing. Wherever voltages are small, circuits are complex, or the reliability required is high, gold is usually the preferred choice.

Gold is so popular for use in electronics because it is highly resistant to corrosion, is easy to work with, and is great for conducting heat and electricity ... only silver and copper conduct electricity better, but don't resist rust or tarnish well. Because it can withstand the effects of time so well, gold is vital in the modern electronics industry, making products we rely on-from mobile phones to credit cards-more reliable.

Cultural Applications

Since its discovery in ancient times, craftsmen have been inspired by gold's beauty and the ease with which it could be shaped to create ornaments that were not only decorative, but were symbols of wealth and power.

Historically, gold was a rare metal that only the wealthy could afford. Gold became accessible to many more after the gold rushes to California and Australia in the mid-19th century, and from the invention of new machinery for manufacturing jewelry. As a result, gold jewelry is affordable to most people today.

Although many countries still value gold as a monetary investment, gold's largest use today is in making jewelry. Since it is so soft and easy to scratch, gold jewelry is usually mixed, or alloyed, with other metals. This makes the gold harder and can change its color. White gold is made by adding silver, nickel, or platinum. Rose or pink gold is made by adding copper. Even harder metal can be made by adding nickel or a tiny amount of titanium to gold.

When used in jewelry, gold is measured in a scale of carats, which rates the fineness of gold. Pure gold is considered to be 24 carats; 18-carat gold is 75% pure gold. The higher the carats, the softer the gold metal is.

Monetary Applications

For thousands of years, gold has played an important part in human society as a medium of exchange; that is, as money.

Societies developed systems of money, or currencies, to make trade easier and to replace barter systems. Early Babylonian currencies based on grain used gold to represent the grain's "stored value." Gold currencies powered the expansion of empires in both the ancient and modern worlds. Gold came to be the most accepted currency throughout the world, not only because of its unique properties but also because it is found in most of the inhabited parts of the planet. Gold's value is recognized everywhere in the world.

Although coins were often silver, gold was preferred as an ultimate store of value, as a portable form of payment and for international trade.

Real-World Examples of the Many Uses of Gold

 
Electronic Circuits
Microscopic gold wires-each thinner than a human hair-connect electrical parts to conduct electricity in a circuit board. You can find gold used like this everywhere-from pocket calculators and computers to washing machines and televisions ... even your everyday telephone has 33 tiny gold parts in it!

Gold Dust
In medicine, gold is used to treat swelling, arthritis, diseases of the liver, eye, and ear, and to help with tiredness and depression.

Dentistry
Gold has also been used in dentistry for almost 3,000 years! Because it is easy to shape and is resistant to rust, gold is perfect for filling cavities or to replace a lost tooth.

Space Exploration and Travel
Without gold, the first step on the moon would not have been possible. The Apollo space ships that traveled to the moon during the 1960s were covered with a very thin gold foil that protected the astronauts and their equipment from dangerous, radioactive rays and the burning heat of the sun.

The rocket engines of American space shuttles are also lined with a gold-and-brass metal to reflect heat. On the U.S. Columbia space shuttle, almost 90 pounds (about 41 kg) of gold were used not only to reflect heat, but also to make its fuel cells, for coating plastic parts, and to connect electrical contacts.

Jet Aircraft
The cockpit windows of modern jet aircraft are coated with a very thin film of gold which deflects the harmful effects of the sun's rays and forms an invisible shield to protect the cockpit from extreme temperatures.

Gold Windows on Buildings
Some modern buildings (especially in North America) have their glass walls and windows coated with a thin film of gold to help reflect heat in the summer and keep heat in during the winter. This reduces the need for so much air conditioning without reducing natural light.

Gold Domes
A tissue-thin sheet of gold—called gold leaf—has been used for centuries to cover the domes and ceilings of public buildings. Examples include the Kremlin, some U.S. capitol buildings, orthodox churches, and Buddhist temples.

Other Uses
Other uses for gold include using it to coat and protect costume jewelry and other things made of metal, such as fine pens and eyeglass frames. It can be spun into thread to use in embroidery. It can also be used to decorate leather and fine wooden frames and furniture. Since it is so rust-resistant, gold outlasts paint by many years. And did you know you can even eat gold?!? The same gold leaf used to decorate everyday objects and buildings can—in very tiny amounts—be used to decorate food, such as chocolate!

Source courtesy of: http://www.gold.org, http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/gold/standard/

Images courtesy of:  http://www.ediblegold.com/, http://www.gold.org, http://www.finesmiles.com/webpages/services/Fillings/, http://www.richmondfed.org/about_us/our_tours/money_museum/virtual_tour/precious_metals/