Grilled Onions

[GoldOxide_imp]

It looks good that Cormanus can leverage his chemistry know-how.

Au₂O₃ is also an uncommon compound given that Au is not easily prone to oxidation.

Yeah, a somewhat reckless Forum alias.

[Gone in 60]

If Au is not prone to oxidation, I have a conundrum that you chemistry experts may be able to explain. My wife has been visiting her Mom for days at a time due to her slowly declining condition, and loads up her car on each return trip to slowly work down the mass of stuff that will eventually have to be dealt with. We sort, and either donate or recycle what she brings home.

Last night, poking through a box of small objects, we came across a gold-ish ring. It had sharp edges, too sharp I thought to be a piece of jewelry. I figured maybe it was a plumbing compression ring. It was oxidized, and my wife asked if I could shine it up. I hit it with a bit of Blue Magic that I use on my CB's header pipes. It shined up a bit, and I gave it back to her. My poor eyes could see a small inscription inside the ring, and she read "14K".

Would 14K gold oxidize?

[GoldOxide_imp]

If Au is not prone to oxidation, I have a conundrum that you chemistry experts may be able to explain. My wife has been visiting her Mom for days at a time due to her slowly declining condition, and loads up her car on each return trip to slowly work down the mass of stuff that will eventually have to be dealt with. We sort, and either donate or recycle what she brings home.

Last night, poking through a box of small objects, we came across a gold-ish ring. It had sharp edges, too sharp I thought to be a piece of jewelry. I figured maybe it was a plumbing compression ring. It was oxidized, and my wife asked if I could shine it up. I hit it with a bit of Blue Magic that I use on my CB's header pipes. It shined up a bit, and I gave it back to her. My poor eyes could see a small inscription inside the ring, and she read "14K".

Would 14K gold oxidize?

Hey Gin60: Gold alloys likely will oxidize, unless it is a high quality alloy like "white gold" which I believe is a combination with platinum.

"Gold oxide - like really?" ... I once thought.

Pure gold (e.g. 24K) can oxidize under unusual circumstances. The result is a pretty ugly compound. A waste of gold in my opinion.

Luckily it has nothing to do with grilled onions, or the CB1100.

[Gone in 60]

Ahh, thank you for the explanation. There was some black on the towel I used to polish the ring, so was wondering. Too small for my wife to wear, and with the sharp edges, we wonder who did wear it?

[GoldOxide_imp]

Ahh, thank you for the explanation. There was some black on the towel I used to polish the ring, so was wondering. Too small for my wife to wear, and with the sharp edges, we wonder who did wear it?

Yeah, 14K gold is not pure by no means. However, it is more durable (i.e. physically harder) than purer gold.

14K gold includes metal like copper, nickel, zinc and silver. Silver is very reactive and may be the source of your "black" stain.

[Charlie Bravo_imp]

Silver is very active. Back in the day, the Roaring 70's, spoon rings made of bent silver spoons were all the rage. I had a few but couldn't wear them 'cause they turned black in a few days.

[Houtman_imp]

Uri Geller was a very famous "spoon bender " in the seventies. How he did it drove people around the bend but it was all a trick.

[Cormanus]

This is really spooky. Its 0600 in Oz. I just woke up from a dream about bending spoons like Uri Geller.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Silver is very active. Back in the day, the Roaring 70's, spoon rings made of bent silver spoons were all the rage. I had a few but couldn't wear them 'cause they turned black in a few days.

Interestingly however, pure silver (e.g. 99.99% silver) will not "turn black" the same way like sterling silver and lesser silver alloys.

I doubt there are many pure silver spoons, but there were many sterling silver spoons (92.5% sliver). 50% silverware would be atrocious, and even worse would be anything silver-plated.