Does gold conduct electricity?

1. 76

   melbelposted 8 years ago

   Does gold conduct electricity?

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2. 77

   Wesman Todd Shawposted 8 years ago

   Absolutely. So does silver, brass, copper, and aluminum. Every metal considered 'precious' conducts electricity well, and as you rise in price per pound, you tend to find incrementally better conductivity.
   
   Your computer and your cell phone both have gold in the electronics. Even fine flashlights have gold plated contacts these days.

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3. 71

   Tusitala Tomposted 8 years ago

   Yes.  I would go further and say that, to my knowledge, all metals conduct electricity.   Generally, the more precious the metal, e.g. gold, silver, copper, are better conducting than say iron,but they will all conduct an electrical current.
   
   The reason gold and silver aren't used is the expense involved.  Copper is still common place, although aluminum has been used in large diameter cables for decades now as it is cheaper than copper but still an excellent conductor.

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   1. 83

      gregasposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I believe that gold is one of the best for conducting because it doesn't corrode as easily. But, as Tom says it is just too costly.

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4. 68

   eugbugposted 7 years ago

   Yes it does but not as well as copper.
   Some metals are better than others at conducting electricity, i.e. they have a higher conductivity or lower resistivity. In order of increasing conductivity we have:
   
   Platinum
   Iron
   Aluminum (aluminium)
   Gold
   Copper
   Silver
   
   Copper is widely used as a conductor in electronics, electrical appliances and for cables. It is ductile (i.e. can be easily stretched and deformed into wires), malleable (can be easily depressed into shape by compressive forces) and relatively cheap.
   Silver is more conductive than copper, but much more expensive.
   Aluminum is less conductive than copper, but lighter and so is used for overhead cables.
   Gold is less conductive than copper and more expensive. However unlike copper, its desirable characteristic is that it doesn't tarnish, i.e. oxidise in air due to contact with oxygen. It doesn't react with other common compounds either. Electrical connectors are usually made of brass and often coated with nickel. However these can tarnish over time, and this results in a degradation in performance because the tarnish coating is an oxide, nitride, sulphide, chloride, carbonate or whatever and isn't very conductive. (e.g. the green verdigris on copper domes on buildings). This is why more expensive audio/video connectors are coated with gold so that they don't tarnish, resulting in possible bad connections between equipment.

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5. 54

   Anish 68posted 7 years ago

   yes gold is a good conductor of electricity

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