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Essay On Metals - Example Papers

Essay On Metals

On Gold
What's so special about this gold stuff, anyway? I mean, it's
expensive because it's rare but why do we use it in jewellery?
Gold has a couple of fairly unique properties that have made it
attractive to jewellers throughout history. Prime among these is its
resistance to corrosion. The only chemical that can dissolve or even
tarnish pure gold is "royal water", a mixture so fiendish few of us are
ever likely to encounter it and those who do will have other things to
worry about than if it will stain their jewellery. (All super-masochistic
claims about dipping pierced genitals in acid for pleasure will be
scornfully disbelieved!)
So "gold is forever". Pure gold will keep its shine ...

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price is high and in its pure form
it's so soft it wears quickly from the purely mechanic rubbing of your skin
and of other jewellery.
The common solution, however, is not without its flaws. "Cutting"
the gold with cheaper metals can mean dramatic savings in material cost and
highly improved resistance to wear but we must remember that it also
changes the other special property of gold - its resistance to corrosion.
Some chemicals in more-or-less popular use in body-piercing circles
(Betadine, to be specific) will tarnish "gold" of as high as 18 K, though
of course it is really the alloying metals that are affected. Also - and
this is really the important bit - the more "impurities" you put in there,
the greater the possibility that some of them will "escape" and get
dissolved into your body. 14 K "gold" is frequently unsafe for those who
have developed "nickel allergy" - a hypersensitivity to nickel. 18 K is
usually safer, except for "white gold" where nickel is frequently used ...

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Essay On Metals. (2004, January 12). Retrieved January 2, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Essay-On-Metals/1341

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 1/12/2004 05:40:14 AM
Category: Science & Nature
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1159
Pages: 5

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