Five Most Precious Metals and Their Amazing Uses

Precious metals are rare metallic chemical element of high economic value. The best-known precious metals are gold and silver. Other precious metals include the platinum group metals: ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and platinum. Rhenium is a precious metal that is not part of the platinum group or one of the traditional precious metals. This article focuses only on five precious metals and their uses. (Photos courtesy of Wikipedia)

Gold and Its Uses

Amazing Facts

The Istana Nurul Iman palace domes are made of gold-leaf. It is the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah.

Gold is the most malleable and ductile metal; a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of one square meter, or an ounce into 300 square feet.

Uses of Gold

1. Gold is the most popular metal used in jewelry making. Here are some other uses of this precious metal.
2. McLaren F1 uses gold foil in the engine compartment
3. Gold is used in astronauts’ helmets
4. Gold can be used in food. Goldwater, traditional herbal liquor produced in Poland and Germany, contains flakes of gold leaf. There are also some expensive ($1000) cocktails which contain flakes of gold leaf.
5. Gold is used in the connectors of expensive electronics cables, like audio, video and USB cables
6. Gold is used in computers, communications equipment, spacecraft, and jet aircraft engines
7. Colloidal gold (also known as “nanogold”, is a suspension (or colloid) of sub-micromete-sized particles of gold in a fluid – usually water) is used in research applications in medicine, biology and materials science. Colloidal gold is also the form of gold used as gold paint on ceramics prior to firing.
8. It is used for the protective coatings on many artificial satellites
9. It is used in infrared protective faceplates in thermal protection suits
10. It is used in electronic warfare planes like the EA-6B Prowler
11. Gold is used as the reflective layer on some high-end CDs
12. The isotope gold-198 is used in some cancer treatments and for treating other diseases
13. Gold leaf, flake or dust is used on and in some gourmet foodstuffs, notably sweets and drinks as decorative ingredient
14. Gold alloys are used in restorative dentistry, especially in tooth restorations, such as crowns and permanent bridges
15. Gold can be made into thread and used in embroidery

Silver and Its Uses