The Origin of Gold on Earth

in #gold7 years ago (edited)

![image]() *Emas di Tambang Clogau*

Gold is a precious metal that became one of the important elements in human life since ancient times until now. Many uses of gold are used by humans, for example used as a dowry to computer components, thus making gold much sought.

Although widely used, the elements that have the Au symbol in the periodic table of chemistry is actually fairly rare on this Earth.
Of course we often ask where does the gold come from? Is it from Earth? Then, how can gold be formed?

According to the educational site TED-Ed, gold on Earth comes from outer space. Precisely the gold is formed when the supernova, the phenomenon of explosion of a star in space.
At that time, the gold materials are still in the form of gas and dust that then solidify into the planet. On Earth, the gold is scattered in the inner abdomen of Earth due to geothermal activity.

Only later after gold is mined and processed, the gold ore in the Earth's abdomen can be a tool or jewelry we usually see today.


![image]() *Gold Souk, a jewelry store in Old Dubai.*

In a typical nuclear fusion star, the process of many light elements such as hydrogen tries to transform into heavier elements such as helium, carbon, and oxygen over a period of millions of years.
The elements try to become heavier elements such as iron or nickel. However, as they seek to become such heavier elements, nuclear fusion has usually run out of energy.

This causes the outer layers of the star to shrink to the core. That happens because there is an extra sudden energy from the outer layer causing an explosion that we know as a supernova.


![image]() *Remnants of Supernovae*
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