Did You Know Gold is the Most Malleable Metal in the World?

That’s right folks, gold is the most malleable metal in the world. In fact, gold can be hammered into thin sheets called Gold Leaf. Only one ounce of gold can be beaten into a sheet 300 feet square. Or if you were making gold wire you could take one ounce of gold and make it only 5 microns thick and it would be 50 miles long!

Although gold is a heavy metal it’s very malleable because on an atomic level it’s very unique. The density of gold makes its atoms very tightly packed together but at the same time they have the ability to “slide” past one another. When is gold is heated up this property is enhanced and the atoms can be more easily moved. No other metal has this “sliding” technique down as well as gold does.

Gold is so malleable that it can be made so thin that it becomes transparent. This transparent gold still has great properties like heat shielding and light blocking. NASA used it to coat the visors of astronauts helmets so they can see through it and it helps protect them from the suns heat and glare. 

Gold truly is the most versatile of metals.

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