Picking up Gold

Most recent answer: 11/03/2017

Q:
Thanks for all of the good answers on magnetism and gold. Now that I know thatI can not pick up the bag of gold flakes that I spilled. (In my carpet) Let me ask this question.Is there anything that is attracted to gold in a way that a magnet is to other metals?Thanks in advance,Lance HartfordCEO, http://hartfordpublishing.com
- Lance (age 30)
Cresson, Tx. US
A:

No, there's no equivalent to the use of magnetism for picking up magnetic particles. Maybe rolling some sort of sticky stuff over the carpet will do a good job of picking up the gold. Then you can dissolve the sticky stuff with something innocuous (isopropyl alcohol?), leaving behind the gold mixed with miscellaneous dirt. But the gold is heavy and won't dissolve in soap or mild bases so it shouldn't be too hard to separate it out, just like many prospectors used to do.

Mike W.

 


(published on 11/03/2017)