![]() Gold loops were fitted over the remaining natural teeth, set in place, and maintained by solder. The dental work illustrated above from the 7th century BC is a fine Etruscan specimen. Many specimens of Etruscan dental fittings are to be found in Italian and other museums.Īdapted from M. The Etruscans probably learned dentistry from the Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Greeks but took the art much further. Some women had their incisors removed so that they could be fitted with the gold prosthetics. Apparently Etruscan craftsmen made gold dental bridges for women so that they could show display their wealth and status. The first use of gold in dentistry as the Etruscans (an ancient Italian civilisation from an area corresponding now to Tuscany) begin securing substitute teeth with gold wire, and with astonishing skill. It was made around 1223 BC and is a stunning piece of ancient gold craftsmanship. Tutankhamun's funeral mask is one of the most iconic gold pieces known. ![]() Gold is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. Gold workers from Mesopotamia (known now as Iraq) made one of the earliest known pieces of gold jewellery in about 2600 BC. Egyption inscriptions dating back to 2600 BC describe gold. It seems that the Egyptians developed gold smelting some 5600 years ago (about 3600 BC) using clay blowpipes to heat the smelter contents. Gold was highly valued from from the earliest recorded times in history. Nobody knows who picked up a gold nugget first but it would have been because it was shiny. Gold has always fascinated people and gold is certainly one of the very first metals known. Origin of name: from the Anglo-Saxon word " gold" (the origin of the symbol Au is the Latin word " aurum" meaning " gold").Chlorauric acid (HAuCl 4) is used to preserve photographs by replacing the silver atoms present in an image. Gold sodium thiosulfate (AuNa 3O 6S 4) is used as a treatment for arthritis. ![]() Gold coated mirrors can be used to make telescopes that are sensitive to infrared light.Ī radioactive isotope of gold, gold-198, is used for treating cancer. Gold is also a good reflector of infrared radiation and can be used to help shield spacecraft and skyscrapers from the sun's heat. ![]() Gold is a good conductor of heat and electricity and does not tarnish when it is exposed to the air, so it can be used to make electrical connectors and printed circuit boards. One karat is equal to one part in twenty-four, so an 18 karat gold ring contains 18 parts pure gold and 6 parts alloy material. The amount of gold in an alloy is measured with a unit called a karat. Gold alloys are used to make jewelry, decorative items, dental fillings and coins. Pure gold is soft and is usually alloyed with other metals, such as silver, copper, platinum or palladium, to increase its strength. One sheet of gold leaf can be as thin as 0.000127 millimeters, or about 400 times thinner than a human hair. Thin sheets of gold, known as gold leaf, are primarily used in arts and crafts for gilding. A single ounce of gold can be beaten into a sheet measuring roughly 5 meters on a side. Gold is the most malleable and ductile of all known metals. It has been estimated that all of the gold that has currently been refined could be placed in a cube measuring 20 meters on a side. There is roughly 1 milligram of gold dissolved in every ton of seawater, although extracting it currently costs more than the gold is worth. Gold is sometimes found free in nature but it is usually found in conjunction with silver, quartz (SiO 2), calcite (CaCO 3), lead, tellurium, zinc or copper. An attractive and highly valued metal, gold has been known for at least 5500 years.
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