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How can one ounce of gold be made into gold leaf?
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gold
The precious metal gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au. Its square on the periodic table details some of its properties, including its atomic weight, atomic number, and crystal structure.
Because gold is the most malleable of all elements, a single troy ounce can be beaten into approximately 187 square feet of gold leaf. The process of creating these extremely thin sheets is known as goldbeating.12
The transformation follows these steps:
- Preparation: A small ingot of gold, typically alloyed with small amounts of silver and copper, is rolled into a long ribbon about 0.025 mm thick.2
- Initial Beating: The ribbon is cut into small squares and placed between sheets of heavy paper or parchment. These are enclosed in a protective material, such as sheepskin, and hammered.2
- Refinement: The squares are repeatedly cut into smaller parts, repacked, and beaten again. This process continues until the gold reaches a thickness of approximately 0.001 mm (or as thin as 0.00009 mm).23
- Finishing: The resulting leaves are trimmed and placed into books between sheets of tissue paper, where they are ready to be used for gilding.23