17 Nov
2009
17 Nov
'09
10:37 p.m.
On 17 Nov 2009 at 14:03, Seth Morabito wrote:
Why is an ounce of gold worth $1000? Because
that's what people will
pay for it. It has no inherent use; you can't eat it, you can't live
in it, you can't keep warm with it.
On the other hand, it resists corrosion, has good electrical and
thermal conductivity and is quite ductile. Not many metals share the
same characteristics. So it does have inherent use. My wife plays a
flute that's made of a gold alloy and she says it lends a warmer tone
to the sound than does silver.
But then, polonium is even more uncommon than gold but I wouldn't
want to make wearable trinkets with it unless I were a sociopath.
--Chuck