According to the International Monetary Fund, the United States has 8,135.5 tonnes of gold in current reserves. According to Michael Bordo of the Library of Economics and Liberty, the gold standard as a currency was a country's way of committing to fix prices of their domestic currencies in terms of a specified amount of gold. Gold which was discovered in 6,000 BCE has been used as a currency by many countries. Gold has been a popular currency in history due to its durability and ease of identification. Gold was officially used by the United States when congress adopted the Gold Standard Act in 1900. The act dropped the use of silver as a standard for redeeming paper money. Gold was considered more valuable and it strengthened the dollar.
Gold is an element and is a transitional metal. Golds is very unreactive. In fact, unlike most metals, it does not react with acids or halogens. This lack of reactivity is a great thing for a currency because it means that gold doesn't easily form effective bonds with other gases or liquids. Gold is also popular for its currency due to its physical properties. Out of all the metals on the periodic table, gold is the most malleable and ductile metal. When a metal is ductile, its determined by its ability to deform under tensile stress which is a metal's ability when stretched into wire. The malleability of the metal is determined by the ability to form a thin sheet by hammering. 30 grams of gold can be drawn into a 80 kilometer wire without breaking. This is why gold is very soft and can be scratched by a coin.
This is because gold is a transition metal. What makes a metal conduct is the way metal atoms bond. Metallic bonding is the way electrons act. A group of atoms have positive ions which then allows electrons to move around unbothered. When the electrons move around, parts of the metal are charged which exerts force on other charges. If a negative charge is close to the metal, the closer you get than the more positive the charge gets. Heat which is kinetic energy, is electrons moving in place. Metal atoms lose their outer electrons forming metal cations. Electrons from the metal atoms for groups of electrons that flow around metal cations.
Gold is also very dense. The current recorded density of gold is 19.32 grams. This is equivalent to nineteen times as much an equal volume of water. In the 1800’s when miners searched for gold, the gold would sink to the bottom of a pan, even in water which made gold easy to discover.
Gold was dropped by the United States in 1971 by President Nixon. Due to Several factors contributed to the end of the gold standard and thus the official end of gold as currency. Among these are concerns that arose with inflation and the United States ability to continue to redeem paper money in gold. The amount of gold able to be used to redeem currency quickly decreased over the years and the United States gold reserves decreased because of debt payments to different countries. While the United States still has lots of gold in reserves, gold is too rare and there isn’t enough gold to go back to a currency backed by gold.
Sources: [1]
Gold. Chemistry Explained Foundations and Applications, 2008. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. <http://www.chemistryexplained.com/elements/C-K/Gold.html>.
[2]
Coffey, Jerry. Density of Gold . Universe Today, 9 Dec. 2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2012. <http://www.universetoday.com/82002/density-of-gold/>.
[3]
Elert, Glenn. Density of Gold. The Physics Factbook, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2012. <http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2004/RuwanMeepagala.shtml>.
[4]
Nair, Sonia. Melting Point of Gold. Buzzle, 5 Dec. 2012. Web. 9 Dec. 2012. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/melting-point-of-gold.html>.
[5]
Bordo, Michael. Gold Standard. Library of Economics and Liberty, 2008. Web. 11 Dec. 2012. http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/GoldStandard.html.
How has the chemistry of materials shaped our past and present and how may it shape our future?
The chemistry of materials has shown us new things that we discover such as when gold was discovered thousands of years ago, it started to be formed into a coin and other things such as jewelry. The United States even used gold as a gold standard for a currency. Gold also has been examined for use in medications for treating sickness. Gold may shape the future by making things easier such as new medications and more jewelry. The ability of gold to do certain things such as gold being unreactive may make processes in the future where we need a metal that is unreactive possible.
How does the chemical structure of a material determine its properties?
The chemical
structure of a material can vary such as gold which is unreactive is able to
the physical properties of gold wont bond with other gases or liquids. Gold is
also very ductile and malleable which allows it to be easy to bend as a metal
which is why gold is very soft and a coin for example can be scratched very
easily due to metal being ductile and malleable. The way a chemicals structure is will affect the outcome of it's physical properties like when the gold was ductile, then it's ability to deform under tenile stress will allow the metal to stretch.
Energy and Place Project
Here is a link to the debate video:
Link to my joint scientific statement:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rp9wnCtrc1wjP8H4Lb7TPqZjWr_RhhVEq-_SqixUogM/edit?usp=drive_web
My opening and closing statement:
The
United States has the worlds largest amount of natural gas reserves.
This is homegrown energy supports our economy and helps make
use energy independent. With the use of new technology and
regulation, natural gas has developed a clean method of energy that
is good for the environment and good for this country. I will
be arguing that natural gas should be used as long as it’s done in
a safe and responsible way.
Closing
statement:
As
said in my opening statement, this clean energy source is what will
lead our country in the future of energy. Natural gas is clean
and benefits the environment and economy meaning the benefits of this
energy outweigh the negatives which is why natural gas should be
used.
Post-Debate Reflection
Please answer the following questions.
The length of your answer should be sufficient to answer the question
clearly and completely.
-What motion did you debate and what
side of the debate were you arguing?
I debated that we should continue using
natural gas as a source of energy for the United States.
-What was your initial position on the
motion: for, against or undecided? Final position?
I have always been for natural gas and
learned a lot of new things I didn't know when I was researching
arguments the other side could have used. But I am staying with my
position of keeping natural gas because I think the benefits outweigh
the negatives.
-Discuss how your position on the
motion changed over the course of this project. What arguments,
evidence
and reflections on place either caused
you to question your position, change your mind or solidified your
opinion?
I wasn't aware about a lot of the small
earthquakes in areas where natural gas was drilled. I was also
surprised that some parts of natural gas operations are basically
deregulated. I also never knew about the new technology that has
been developed to lower the threats to the environment.
-What arguments and pieces of evidence
do you find to be strongest for each side of the motion?
Pro: Natural gas is cleaner then coal
and will create over 3.6 million new jobs and add over 5 trillion
dollars in capitol investment.
Anti: That natural gas can poison our
drinking water and our overall water supply.
- What question(s) would you like to research further to have better understanding of energy issues? They can be related to the motion but do not need to be.I want to know why renewable energy takes up so much land and I want to know more about the solar power being used for some of the natural gas process.It was fun but a unique experience. I didn't know a lot of things that can be argued on both sides so I feel much stronger now because I understand the arguments and the position of the side arguing against natural gas because I did enough research where I could have argued against using natural gas if I were to be put on that side.
- If you argued for the side of the motion you take, describe how it was to intellectually engage with someone who disagreed with you.
I personally am for natural gas, but enjoyed debating people opposing natural gas because I learned many new things I didn't, and I learned disadvantages of natural gas that I kind of knew about, but hadn't known much about before. I like how the debate went and felt well prepared for countering the opponents arguments.
-Watch your debate and assess your performance in the debate. What aspects went well? What aspects did not go as well as you would have liked? If you had a chance to do it again what would you do differently? Consider the arguments you used, how you responded to your opponents questions and how you presented yourself.
Some of my points such as the types and amount of energy the United States has were wrong and I kept repeating some of my points. I also would like to discuss green energy involved in the natural gas process because it would be very relevant to the debate.
-Perform a fact check on two statements made by your opponents (or your teammates) during the debate. Clearly indicate the statements you are checking and what you discovered.
- Statement 1.) The United States has the most natural gas in the world.
- False, Russia has 48 trillion proven cubic feet of natural gas, this is 25% of the world supply.
- Statement 2.) Natural gas would add over 5 trillion dollars in capitol investment.
- Correct, the oil and natural gas industry will add over 5 trillion dollars investment in capitol investment over the next 2 decades.
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