Name       : Gold
Symbol     : Au
Atomic #   : 79
Atom weight: 196.967
Melting P. : 1064.4
Boiling P. : 2808
Oxidation  : +1, +3
Pronounced : GOLD
From       : Anglo-Saxon in origin; Symbol, Au, taken from the Latin name,
             aurum, "shining dawn"
Identified : Prehistoric origin
Appearance : Soft, malleable, yellow metal
Note       : There is enough gold in this planet to make a cube of metal
             60 feet wide.
             
[Properties]

  Gold has a very distinctive yellow color. It is incredibly malleable and
ductile - a single ounce of pure gold can be beaten out to a sheet that is
about 300 feet square. It is about as heavy as ordinary lead and, like
lead, pure gold is easily cut with a knife.
  Few elements react readily with gold under normal environmental 
conditions. This accounts for why most gold is mined as flakes and nuggets
of the yellow metal itself. It does react somewhat with chlorine gas and 
aqua regia (a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids).
  Gold is a very good conductor of electricity; because it does not
normally corrode, it is often used as a plating material for electrical
connectors. Gold is also a good reflector of heat-carrying infrared
radiation, so a thin film of gold is applied to the glass in skyscrapers
in order to reduce the amount of internal heating from sunlight.
  The purity of gold is measured in units of karat. Pure gold is rated at
24 karat. An alloy that is 50% gold is 12 karat. The amount of gold in
common jewelry is reckoned at 18 karat, meaning that the percentage of
gold is 18/24 times 100, or 75%.