Why do we love GOLD? Since time immemorial, gold was valued as
precious in many different cultures, spanning the globe. Its value was recognized
even before written documentation of this in the rise of civilization. Artifacts
such as the interesting stylized‘airplanes”
from the Colima Culture in Columbia ( circa 800 BCE) as well as artifacts in
the Americas such as gold objects found in the mounds in Florida, Georgia and Ohio
point to the fact that gold was prized by many different cultures. So what is
it about gold that makes it so valuable, so sought after to the point of people
having “gold fever” and could we make it?
The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, discusses the theory of
being able to somehow change common elements such as lead into more valuable
ones such as silver and gold. While alchemy is said to point to how to obtain a
more spiritual life, it was the practice of changing or transmuting these
elements into gold. This process was kept hidden and instructions were written in symbolic terms
that were understood by a select fraternity of alchemists.
To answer this question as well as
the question as to whether or not they could actually make gold, I did a bit
of research on the subject of gold and alchemy
and the quest for making gold a few years back. I am not sure why, maybe like
most of us, the idea of having however much gold you wanted was an interesting
idea. If you could make it, you wouldn't have to search for it, like some
treasure hunters did. Paracelsus, the father of chemistry, called the art
of alchemy, "the treasure of treasures" for alchemists.
From what I gathered from reading
old alchemy texts was that one first had to obtain what was called, "the
Philosophers stone." But this was just the beginning of a very complicated
process that with time, eventually evolved into what we know to be chemistry.
Because alchemists had need to keep their processes secret, both from the
church fathers as well as the state, they wrote their texts in very complex and
obscured language, using symbols and allegory to keep the uninitiated
away.
It was felt from the time of
Aristotle that all matter consisted of four elements, namely earth, air, water
and fire. The alchemists believed that in the correct proportions and
combinations, that the base elements could be rearranged by the use of heat as
well as other processes, to transmute them into gold. The main goal of
alchemy was to transmute lead into gold. Lead, it is now known has the atomic
number 82 and gold the atomic number 79, which are defined as elements by the
number of protons they possess, and changing the element requires changing the
atomic number or protons. These protons can't be changed by any chemical means.
However, by the use of physics, protons can be added or removed to change one
element into another. To change the three protons of lead, an enormous amount
of energy is required, so that the cost of transmuting it would greatly
outweigh the value of the manufactured gold. It wasn't until the 19th century
that their assumption that there were only four elements was found to be false.
With the 20th century and the atomic
age, the discovery of ways to break down the elements to their basic structures
to form new compounds was not just a medieval superstition any longer. Nuclear
reactors also may used for creating elements, although the conditions are less
controlled. The Hadron collider built in 2008 has not only recreated known
elements, it has created two new elements on the periodic table, namely
ununqadium (114) and ununhexium (116).Today these particle accelerators
transmute elements on a regular basis. There is some discussion on websites
that feel that the transmutation of gold has been achieved as early as the
1950's. It is now a known fact that the
element Lead (Pb) can be transmuted into Gold (Au) by a "simple"
nuclear reaction This process was carried out by tossing one
element into a particle accelerator and smashing it into another particle in
order to create a collision strong enough to swap a few protons and
neutrons, and thus create the new element of interest. In 1951 Glenn Seaborg succeeded
in changing a miniscule amount of lead into gold.
Reportedly in 1972 in the Soviet
Union, physicists at a nuclear research plant discovered that they had inadvertently
created gold when the lead covering of a reactor transmuted. I would think that
any gold created from these processes would not only be extremely costly and
time-consuming, it would also be harmful and transient, as would probably decay
back into lead quickly. These reports that gold is being created have not been
unsubstantiated, so, I guess my quest for making gold is a bust. I may
have to go out and buy a lottery ticket.
Our money system here in the U.S. used
to be based on the gold standard. Nowadays the value of money is fiat currency.
But gold is still valued but one has to wonder what would happen to its value
if the ability to make it synthetically became economical. My guess is that it
would not have a significant effect on our economy, as real gold would still
hold a higher place value in people’s perceptions. For example we have had the
ability to create synthetic gems and diamonds since the early 1970 (plasma
diamonds are now being created or “born”) but natural diamonds are still prized.
Many people like the idea of synthetic diamonds because they are not associated
with those obtained under inhumane means (blood diamonds).
So why
use gold? Of the 118 elements, there are
eight noble metals, "noble" because they stand apart,
barely reacting with the other elements:
platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium, along with gold
and silver. These eight are all pretty rare, which
is important criterion for currency. But some of them still have problems in
that regard. Iron rusts, and it is pretty heavy. Imagine carrying that around
in your pockets. With some of these metals, they are so rare, the odds of
having them is pretty remote (might have a hard time finding them in your
pocket….hope there is no hole!) Some of
them are hard to extract; platinum melts at 1,768 C.
So that leaves us with silver and
gold. They are rather scarce but not terribly so and melt at relatively low
temperatures so can be easily made into coins, ingots, or jewelry (my
favorite). One problem with silver is
that it tarnishes, reacting to Sulphur in the air.
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