USES OF GOLD

We all know that gold is used in coins, jewellery and art. But what is less well-known is that gold has been and still is used for many other things. We have used gold in medicine for a long time. In medieval Europe, people thought that gold was good for your health. They thought that since gold was so pure and rare that it had to be good for you. This isn’t true actually—if you ingest gold, it does not affect you positively or negatively. However, gold is used successfully in dentistry. Dentists use gold to fix people’s teeth. In medieval Europe, gold leaf (very, very thin pieces of gold) was placed as a decoration in food and drinks. Gold is still used in this way. Gold leaf is mostly used in gourmet sweets and drinks. Flakes (very small pieces) of gold are also used in some traditional European herbal drinks. Some foods that use gold can cost more than 1,000 dollars! Electricity moves very well through gold. It also does not corrode, which means that it lasts a long time without being damaged by the air or chemicals. Because of these two properties, gold is used in electronics. This is the most common industrial use of gold. It is also used in wires that need to carry a lot of electricity. But gold is also used in everyday electronics such as mobile phones and computers. Gold is also used in other ways. It is used in glass production to change the colour of the glass. Gold can also be made so thin that you can see through it. Because of this, it is sometimes put in the glass of airplane cockpit windows. Then, when an electric current is sent through the window, it stops ice from forming on the airplane pilot’s window. Gold is also used in some airplane instruments to prevent damage from radiation. Although we mostly think of gold as being used in jewellery or for money, it has a surprising number of uses. In the future, gold will continue to be very useful for a variety of purposes. (Adapted from eslreadinglessons.com)