Gold
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97 free Gold trivia questions with answers — science & nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free gold trivia questions with answers. Think you're a gold expert? Challenge yourself with our comprehensive 97-question trivia quiz covering everything from gold's historical significance to modern mining practices. Whether you're interested in economics, geology, or world history, this quiz will test your knowledge of the precious metal that has captivated civilizations for thousands of years.
30 of 97 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the chemical symbol for gold on the periodic table?
Au
Au comes from the Latin aurum, whose Proto-Indo-European root meant 'glow'. Ag is silver, Fe iron and Cu copper.
Q 02What is the atomic number of gold?
79
Gold has an atomic number of 79, meaning each atom of gold contains 79 protons in its nucleus.
Q 03Gold purity is measured in what unit, where 24 means pure?
Karat
Gold purity is measured in karats, with 24-karat representing pure gold. The term 'carat' (with a 'C') is used for the weight of gemstones.
Q 04Which physical property makes gold easy to hammer into extremely thin sheets, like gold leaf?
Malleability
Malleability is gold's superpower: a single gram can be beaten into a sheet one square metre across, and gold leaf can be thin enough to be semi-transparent.
Q 05The gold funerary mask of Tutankhamun, over 10 kg of gold, came from which civilization?
The Egyptians
The Egyptians made the mask for Tutankhamun, who reigned c. 1332–1323 BC; Howard Carter's team uncovered it in 1925, and it stands 54 cm tall and weighs about 10.2 kg.
Q 06What is the approximate density of pure gold in grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm³)?
19.3 g/cm³
Pure gold has a density of 19.3 g/cm³, about 1.7 times that of lead (11.34 g/cm³) and nineteen times that of water; only a few metals such as osmium, iridium and platinum are denser.
Q 07Besides excellent conductivity, what property makes gold widely used in electronics?
Its resistance to corrosion
Gold is prized in electronics for its excellent electrical conductivity combined with its remarkable resistance to corrosion and tarnishing, ensuring reliable connections over time.
Q 08At what temperature in degrees Celsius does pure gold melt?
1064 °C
Pure gold has a melting point of approximately 1064 degrees Celsius, a property that facilitates its use in jewelry making and various industrial applications.
Q 09Which method of gold mining separates gold from loose sand and gravel in riverbeds?
Placer mining
Placer mining works loose river gravels rather than solid rock: because gold is far denser than sand, moving water carries the lighter sediment away and leaves the gold behind.
Q 10Where does pure gold land on the Mohs hardness scale?
2.5-3
Pure gold scores just 2.5 to 3, soft enough to dent, which is why jewellers alloy it with harder metals.
Q 11Roughly what share of newly mined gold ends up in jewelry?
About 50%
About 50% of gold goes into jewelry — roughly 2,000 tonnes a year against some 3,600 tonnes mined — with investment bars and coins, central banks and electronics sharing the rest.
Q 12What is the primary reason that pure gold does not rust or corrode?
It is a noble metal, highly unreactive.
Gold is a noble metal, highly unreactive: it does not oxidise in air or water and shrugs off most single acids, which is why ancient gold coins emerge from the ground as bright as the day they were buried.
Q 13What term describes gold's ability to be drawn into extremely fine wires?
Ductility
Q 21The world finally abandoned the gold standard for fiat currency after which set of 1971 measures?
The Nixon shock
Nixon suspended the dollar's convertibility into gold in August 1971. Bretton Woods was the 1944 conference that had set up the post-war system he ended.
Q 22Which process, used in about 90% of gold production, dissolves gold from low-grade ore into a soluble complex?
Cyanidation
Cyanidation, also called the MacArthur–Forrest process, leaches gold from ore holding as little as one part per million; its toxicity has led a few jurisdictions to ban it.
Q 23Which metal outdoes gold, and every other metal, at conducting electricity?
Silver
Ductility is why gold can be spun into thread for embroidery. Its softness is also why jewelry gold is nearly always alloyed with harder metals.
Q 14Which of these is NOT a common industrial or high-tech application for gold?
Structural building material
Gold is used in electronics, dentistry, and even for sun visors in spacesuits due to its unique properties, but it is not used as a structural building material.
Q 15In classical alchemy, gold was linked with which heavenly body?
The Sun
Alchemists paired gold with the Sun, sharing its circle-with-dot symbol, while silver belonged to the Moon, iron to Mars and copper to Venus.
Q 16Which country was the world's largest gold producer in 2024?
China
China was the world's largest gold producer in 2024, mining roughly 380 tonnes; it first overtook South Africa for the top spot in 2007.
Q 17Which rush, sparked by a find at Sutter's Mill in 1848, drew some 300,000 people to the American West?
California
California was technically Mexican territory when gold turned up in a mill tailrace in January 1848; about half the 300,000 newcomers came by sea and half overland.
Q 18What acid mixture is famous for dissolving gold?
Aqua regia
Aqua regia, Latin for 'royal water', earned its name by dissolving the king of metals; the usual recipe is one part nitric acid to three parts hydrochloric acid.
Q 19What is the name for a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver?
Electrum
Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, used in ancient times for coinage and decorative objects.
Q 20Which unit is commonly used to weigh gold and other precious metals?
Troy ounce
Gold and other precious metals are typically weighed using the troy ounce, which is slightly heavier than the standard avoirdupois ounce.
Silver is the best electrical conductor among all metals, even better than gold and copper, though gold is often preferred in electronics for its corrosion resistance.
Q 24Where did Cornish miners dig up the 'Welcome Stranger', the largest gold nugget on record?
Australia
Australia: the nugget was found just below the surface at Moliagul, Victoria, in 1869; no local scales could take it, so a blacksmith broke it into three pieces on an anvil.
Q 25If all the gold ever mined were melted into a single cube, roughly how long would each side be?
About 22 metres
About 22 metres: some 210,000 tonnes have been mined through history, and at 19.3 tonnes per cubic metre that is only about 11,000 cubic metres of metal.
Q 26What color is pure gold?
Bright-metallic-yellow
In its pure form, gold is a distinct bright-metallic-yellow color, a unique characteristic among metals.
Q 27Adding which metal to gold produces the distinctive 18-karat rose gold?
Copper
Copper gives rose gold its pink tint — 18-karat rose gold is typically 75% gold and about 25% copper — while nickel or palladium bleach gold toward white instead.
Q 28In what type of natural geological formations is gold often found as nuggets or grains?
Alluvial deposits
Gold frequently occurs as native metal in alluvial deposits, which are loose sediments like sand and gravel in riverbeds, where it accumulates due to its high density.
Q 29Which hand method separates gold from gravel by swirling it with water in a shallow dish?
Panning
Panning works because gold's high density lets it settle to the bottom while lighter material washes away; it is the simplest form of placer mining.
Q 30Which 14th-century ruler gave away so much gold passing through Cairo that Egyptian prices sank for a decade?
Mansa Musa
Mansa Musa, emperor of Mali, made the hajj in 1324 with a caravan of thousands and some 80–100 camels loaded with gold; his spending in Cairo depressed the gold price there for years.