Gold
transition metal · period 6 · group 11 (coinage metals) · d-block
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from Latin: aurum) and atomic number 79, making it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. In a pure form, it is a bright, slightly reddish yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal.
What the numbers say
At standard temperature and pressure Gold is a solid, sitting in period 6, group 11 of the d-block.
Its melting point of 1337 K (1064 °C) is the 46th highest of the 110 elements with a measured value — mid-range among the elements.
At 19.3 g/cm³ it is the 7th densest of 96 elements with a quoted density.
Pauling electronegativity is 2.54. Paired with oxygen (3.44) that is a difference of 0.90, which puts the bond polar covalent — oxides here tend to be semiconducting or refractory rather than salt-like.
In the solid state it takes a face-centered cubic structure — FCC packing gives 12 independent slip systems, which is why FCC metals are the ductile, formable ones.
It is reported in 5 oxidation states (-1, 1, 2, 3, 5), which sets how many distinct compounds and phases it can form.
First identified in c. 2500 BCE.
Crystal structure
Solid Gold adopts a Face-centered Cubic arrangement, in the Cubic (isometric) system — axes a = b = c, angles α = β = γ = 90°. Symmetry controls the anisotropy of stiffness and thermal expansion, and the available slip systems set how far the metal deforms before it fractures.
Check it against computed structures
The structure search queries the Materials Project, OQMD and the Open Materials Database for computed crystal structures containing Au — with DFT formation energy, hull stability and band gap where the provider publishes them.
K 2 · L 8 · M 18 · N 32 · O 18 · P 1
Properties
| Atomic number | 79 |
|---|---|
| Atomic mass | 196.9665695 u |
| Series | transition metal |
| Group | 11 |
| Period | 6 |
| Block | d-block |
| Phase at STP | Solid |
| Density | 19.3 g/cm³ |
| Melting point | 1337.33 K (1064 °C) |
| Boiling point | 3243 K (2970 °C) |
| Electronegativity (Pauling) | 2.54 |
| Electron configuration | [Xe] 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6s¹ |
| Crystal structure | Face-centered Cubic |
| Oxidation states | -1,1,2,3,5 |
| Discovered | c. 2500 BCE |
← Back to the periodic table
See Au in context with all 118 elements.
Working with gold in a real design?
Ask the materials chat how Au behaves in your alloy system, what it does to weldability, and which grades to look at — with the source of every number named.