These gold trivia questions treat the metal four ways: as element 79, as something that fell to Earth and is dug out of it, as money and treasure, and as a material for jewelers and engineers.
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Gold trivia questions and answers for a science class
The element asks about the symbol, the atomic number, the acid test and why gold leaf lets greenish-blue light through. From the stars to the mine runs from asteroid impacts and neutron stars to Johannesburg and the first American strikes.
Money and making
Coins, crowns and gold rushes has the oldest gold artifacts, the first coins and the Gold Coast. Karats, colors and uses covers rose, white and green gold, cranberry glass and cockpit windows.
Karats, colors and uses is the round for a jewelry class or a rock and mineral club.
Questions and answers
What are some easy gold trivia questions?
What is the chemical symbol for gold? How many karats is pure gold? For which property does gold rank first among all metals? The answers are Au, 24, and that it is the most malleable.
Why is the symbol for gold Au?
Au comes from aurum, the Latin name of the metal. Aurum shares a root with the Latin word aurora, dawn, which is why it is often said to have meant shining dawn.
What does 24 karat mean?
Karat measures the proportion of gold in an alloy. Pure gold is 24 karat, and lower numbers hold proportionally less: 18 karat is 75 percent gold.
How were the answers checked?
Each was read on October 3, 2026 in the English Wikipedia article Gold, linked under the question. The price of gold, today's production rankings and anything that reads as investment advice are left out.
At what temperature does gold react with oxygen?Answer: At none: it does not react with oxygen. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Chemists place gold in which numbered column of the elements?Answer: Group 11. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
The density of gold is almost identical to that of which other metal?Answer: Tungsten. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Gold dissolves in mercury. What are the alloys that form called?Answer: Amalgams. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Gold is element number what?Answer: 79. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Gold is one of the least reactive elements. Which is the only metal ranked as less reactive?Answer: Platinum. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Gold ranks first among all metals for which property?Answer: It is the most malleable. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
How many stable isotopes does gold have?Answer: One. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Into how large a sheet can a single gram of gold be beaten?Answer: 1 square meter. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
The Latin name of gold shares a root with the Latin word aurora. What does aurora mean?Answer: Dawn. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Most metals are gray or silvery white. What color is pure gold?Answer: Slightly reddish-yellow. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
The symbol for gold comes from its Latin name. What is that name?Answer: Aurum. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Testing metal with nitric acid, which does not dissolve gold, gave rise to which everyday phrase?Answer: Acid test. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Trace gold, as an English term, to its oldest root. Which sense did that root have?Answer: To shine or gleam; to be yellow or green. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
What color is light that has passed through very thin gold leaf?Answer: Greenish-blue. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Which two letters stand for gold in the periodic table?Answer: Au. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
From the stars to the mine 15
A gold rush took place at Otago. In which country is Otago?Answer: New Zealand. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
The attempts of the alchemists to make gold laid the foundation for which modern science?Answer: Chemistry. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
By one model, how did most of the gold in the crust and mantle of the Earth arrive?Answer: In asteroid impacts about 4 billion years ago. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Gold often occurs as the free element, as nuggets or grains. What is that state called?Answer: The native state. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
How much more common is gold than platinum?Answer: Thirty times. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
If all the gold above ground in 2020 were made into one cube, about how long would each side be?Answer: 21.7 meters. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
In 2007 another country passed South Africa as the largest gold producer. Since which year had South Africa always been first?Answer: 1905. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
In 2017 scientists working in Patagonia established that gold came to the surface of the Earth from which deep region?Answer: The mantle. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
In August 2017 the signatures of heavy elements, gold among them, were observed in which kind of cosmic event?Answer: A merger of neutron stars. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
In which Georgia town did the first major gold strike in the United States take place?Answer: Dahlonega. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
In which state was the first documented discovery of gold in the United States?Answer: North Carolina. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
To what depth do some of the gold mines near Johannesburg reach?Answer: Nearly 4,000 meters. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
What mythical substance did the alchemists hope would turn lead into gold?Answer: The philosopher's stone. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Which city was founded as a result of the Witwatersrand Gold Rush?Answer: Johannesburg. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Which country has been the source of a large share of the gold of the world since the 1880s?Answer: South Africa. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Coins, crowns and gold rushes 11
During which centuries did European economies return to minting gold coins, after a time of preferring silver?Answer: The 13th and 14th centuries. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
English gold coins made for circulation from 1526 were a 22 karat alloy, chosen for hardness. What was the alloy called?Answer: Crown gold. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
From the late 15th century Europeans traded for gold on the coast of West Africa. Which empire dominated that trade?Answer: The Ashanti Empire. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
From which country do the oldest gold artifacts in the world come?Answer: Bulgaria. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
The golden hats and the Nebra disk are gold artifacts of the Bronze Age. In which part of the world did they appear?Answer: Central Europe. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
In which book did Thomas More make fun of gold as a sign of wealth and prestige?Answer: Utopia. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
In which decade did most gold coins stop being minted as money for everyday circulation?Answer: The 1930s. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Small amounts of natural gold have been found in caves used about 40,000 BC. In which country are the caves?Answer: Spain. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Where were the first known coins containing gold struck, around 600 BC?Answer: Lydia, in Asia Minor. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Which country was the last to tie its currency to gold, until a referendum in 1999?Answer: Switzerland. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Which name did Europeans give to the region of West Africa known for its gold deposits?Answer: The Gold Coast. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Karats, colors and uses 17
About how much gold may a typical cell phone contain?Answer: 50 milligrams. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Alloys of gold with palladium or nickel are used in jewelry to produce gold of which color?Answer: White. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Blue gold is made by alloying gold with iron. With which metal is purple gold made?Answer: Aluminum. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Gold can be made into thread. In which craft is the thread used?Answer: Embroidery. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Gold solder comes in three melting ranges called Easy, Medium and Hard. Which does a goldsmith use first on a piece with several joints?Answer: Hard, the one with the highest melting point. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Gold used to decorate food has an E number. Which one?Answer: E175. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Pure gold, sold as fine gold, is rated at how many karats?Answer: 24. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Thin sheets of gold strongly reflect infrared light. Where are they used as heat shields for people?Answer: In the sun visors of spacesuits. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
What are gold alloys with silver alone, which look greenish-yellow, called?Answer: Green gold. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
What is the chief industrial use of gold?Answer: Electrical connectors that resist corrosion. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
What is vark, which is used on sweets in South Asian cuisine?Answer: A foil or leaf of pure metal, which can be gold. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
What share of an 18 karat alloy is gold?Answer: 75 percent. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Which color do gold and its salts give to the glass known as cranberry glass?Answer: A deep, intense red. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Which Japanese craft layers colored gold alloys to make patterns like the grain of wood?Answer: Mokume-gane. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Which metal is added to gold to make rose gold?Answer: Copper. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Which use takes about half of the new gold that is produced?Answer: Jewelry. Source: Wikipedia: Gold
Why is a very thin layer of gold used in some aircraft cockpit windows?Answer: Electricity passed through it keeps ice from forming. Source: Wikipedia: Gold