Magnetic Properties of Gold
You must have probably heard of gold or seen it in television documentaries and, if lucky enough, held it in your hands. Its valuable nature has made it acquire high prices in the stock market.
The valuable mineral is mined in different parts of the world and has a high market value. It is majorly used in making jewelry and other fancy artifacts that are very attractive.
Over the years, different studies have been carried out to determine the components of this valuable mineral.
he main question arose during the different experiments and studies conducted on the magnetic component of gold. Is gold magnetic or non-magnetic?
You might have probably gotten involved in the debate about the magnetic structure of this valuable mineral. Different studies have carried out further research to determine whether gold is a magnetic or non-magnetic material.
This article has provided different information from various sources to discuss the question and maybe find the right answer.
What is the Magnetic Component of Gold?
Gold has been long considered a non-magnetic material by further research have been carried to prove the opposite.
According to researchers at Tohoku University, gold can be magnetized by applying heat. However, this may not seem natural, but it brings about interesting information that you may want to know better.
The researchers discovered that an electron spin plays an important role in materials functionality and a non-constant temperature where magnetization and heat occur. Another experiment confirmed that the magnetization in gold was possible with heat flow change in that material.
In the experiment, the team applied different heat levels at different intervals to drive a heat flow perpendicular to the bilayer. A magnetic field additionally was applied parallel to the heat flow.
Under these conditions, a high voltage was measured in the goldfields, and the results showed a proportional dependence on the applied heat gradient.
The records from this experiment showed magnetism potentiality in gold. This might have proven something more on the magnetic potentiality of gold.
However, more studies have been conducted to prove their theories on the magnetic capability of gold.
According to learnaboutgold.com, you may find clasps and other fasteners that contain ferromagnetic materials when testing 22-carat, 18-carat and 14-carat gold jewelry.
Ferromagnetism is the strongest part of magnetism, and materials exhibit strong attraction to magnetic fields and often retain magnetic properties for some time.
Studies further explain that magnetism in gold is affected by the metal materials used in its production. Therefore a magnet can only provide brief information on the level of magnetism in gold.
Gold pieces that exhibit magnetic attraction are considered impure.
Can Gold Be Found With a Magnet?
The property of magnetism in metals depends on the amount of electrons component. Each metal has a certain number of electron components based on their atomic number and atomic weight.
Metals with high unpaired electrons have a strong magnetic field. On the other hand, gold has only one unpaired electron, which makes it far from showing any magnetic field reactions. This greatly contributes to gold's non-magnetic characteristics.
Another factor that contributes to the non-magnetism property of gold is that it is both paramagnetic and diamagnetic.
Paramagnetic is when a material is attracted to a magnetic field, and its force is related to the alignment of the electron in the metal.
On the other hand, Diamagnetic is when the change in magnetic fields in the metal induces currents in the metal, causing it to resist the magnetic field.
Since gold contains both conditions, paramagnetic and diamagnetic, the magnetic attraction property is cancelled since the fields cancel one another and tend to be weak. A magnet cannot necessarily be used to identify gold since it will only attract or repel the mineral weakly.
Other information as outlined in rankred.com states that records from scientists have provided information that gold differs in macro and nano-scale. However, they concluded that gold is non-magnetic.
The scientists outlined different properties of gold concerning magnetism. They recorded that a single atom of gold contains 79 protons, 79 electrons and 118 neutrons. The high electrons make it a suitable conductor of electricity and favors electrical wiring.
Why is Gold Non-magnetic?
From the previous information provided in this article, different sources cited have outlined that gold is non-magnetic. There are different reasons that further research provides to support that gold is a non-magnetic metal.
In the section of this article, we have outlined some information from different sources that explain why a magnetic field cannot attract gold.
Magnetism purely depends on the properties of the metal involved. Magnetic metals have a high amount of electrons and protons as compared to non-magnetic materials.
When researchers studied the components and structure of gold, they realized that the metal’s components are similar to those in other non-magnetic materials.
Every metal contains a certain amount of electrons based on its atomic weight and atomic number. Some atoms have unpaired electrons that are close to the surface. The unpaired electrons are mobile and contribute to magnetism.
Gold has few unpaired electrons on its surface; hence it has no magnetism components. In addition, the diamagnetic, paramagnetic and ferromagnetic properties discussed earlier in this article explain why a magnet cannot attract metal.
Other sources have clearly explained the reasons why gold in a non-magnetic material. The information provided clearly explain the different components of gold and their relation to magnetism.
Can Metal Detectors Find Gold?
Metal detectors work based on magnetism. They emit a high electromagnetic frequency whenever they detect a metal. The metal detectors are designed to detect gold, silver, diamond and platinum. Target metal such as gold becomes energized and retransmits a high electromagnetic frequency within the electromagnetic field.
Conclusion
In conclusion, studies have outlined that gold is an anon magnetic material. Gold can only be magnetic when exposed to heating or when mixed with impure materials. The magnetism alloy of gold purely depends on the material with which it is mixed.
The magnetism of gold also helps in identifying whether it is fake or real. Real gold should be pure; hence it should not portray a strong magnetic attraction to magnets. If your gold is magnetic, be sure it is fake. Most professionals use different chemicals and different materials like magnets and electronic testing to determine if gold is real or fake.