3 ms·

Might be worth noting that the things denser than gold are probably all going to be more expensive as well, so there isn't really any way to hollow out your gol

by jlgreco 14y ago

Might be worth noting that the things denser than gold are probably all going to be more expensive as well, so there isn't really any way to hollow out your gold and fill it with weights to correct the density. Even DU falls short of being dense enough todo that.

gonvaled 14y ago
And DU would be ...? EDIT: I think you meant Tungsten, also known as Wolfram (symbol W): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten Gold: 19.30 g/cm3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold) Wolfram: 19.25 g/cm3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten) EDIT2 (I can not reply to your reply): So you meant Depleted Uranium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium) Depleted Uranium: 19.1 g/cm3 So Wolfram is a better substitute for Gold, in terms of density. I do not know about prices or other physical properties.
- glurgh 14y ago
  Pretty sure they meant Depleted Uranium by DU. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium Has a lower density than Tungsten, though so would make a poor counterfeiting material in both cost and physical properties.
- jlgreco 14y ago
  Sorry yes, depleted uranium. Tugnsten also comes close, but not close enough to get it perfect. If you can accurately measure density you could still detect that. The question I suppose is does anybody measure density carefully enough to detect tungsten, and if not, should they be?
pindi 14y ago
Tungsten has a density extremely similar to that of gold (19.25 g/cm³ for tungsten, 19.30 g/cm³ for gold), and is substantially less expensive. And tungsten counterfeiting does happen: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/tungsten-filled-10-oz-gold-bar-found-middle-manhattans-jewelry-district http://www.zerohedge.com/news/tungsten-filled-10-oz-gold-bar...
- jlgreco 14y ago
  Detectable if you measure density carefully enough (though do people? I don't know). If you did that with plutonium instead (way more expensive than gold obviously, so it would be a silly thing to do) then you could get it as close as you wanted.
  - caf 14y ago
    As an interesting sidebar, there's a series of photos of some of the scientists on Tinian posing with a small box containing the core of the Fat Man bomb - a 3.5" diameter sphere of Plutonium that was apparently worth at the time the equivalent of about $5 billion dollars. http://nuclearsecrecy.com/blog/2011/11/25/friday-image-posing-with-the-plutonium/ http://nuclearsecrecy.com/blog/2011/11/25/friday-image-posin...
  - pindi 14y ago
    It's certainly detectable with precise instruments, but it's not practical to test each and every bit of gold one acquires so thoroughly. Hence the opportunity for counterfeit gold that passes casual inspection and weighs about the right amount.

by jlgreco 14y ago

gonvaled 14y ago

And DU would be ...? EDIT: I think you meant Tungsten, also known as Wolfram (symbol W): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten Gold: 19.30 g/cm3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold) Wolfram: 19.25 g/cm3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten) EDIT2 (I can not reply to your reply): So you meant Depleted Uranium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium) Depleted Uranium: 19.1 g/cm3 So Wolfram is a better substitute for Gold, in terms of density. I do not know about prices or other physical properties.

glurgh 14y ago
Pretty sure they meant Depleted Uranium by DU. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium Has a lower density than Tungsten, though so would make a poor counterfeiting material in both cost and physical properties.
jlgreco 14y ago
Sorry yes, depleted uranium. Tugnsten also comes close, but not close enough to get it perfect. If you can accurately measure density you could still detect that. The question I suppose is does anybody measure density carefully enough to detect tungsten, and if not, should they be?

pindi 14y ago

Tungsten has a density extremely similar to that of gold (19.25 g/cm³ for tungsten, 19.30 g/cm³ for gold), and is substantially less expensive. And tungsten counterfeiting does happen: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/tungsten-filled-10-oz-gold-bar-found-middle-manhattans-jewelry-district http://www.zerohedge.com/news/tungsten-filled-10-oz-gold-bar...

jlgreco 14y ago
Detectable if you measure density carefully enough (though do people? I don't know). If you did that with plutonium instead (way more expensive than gold obviously, so it would be a silly thing to do) then you could get it as close as you wanted.
- caf 14y ago
  As an interesting sidebar, there's a series of photos of some of the scientists on Tinian posing with a small box containing the core of the Fat Man bomb - a 3.5" diameter sphere of Plutonium that was apparently worth at the time the equivalent of about $5 billion dollars. http://nuclearsecrecy.com/blog/2011/11/25/friday-image-posing-with-the-plutonium/ http://nuclearsecrecy.com/blog/2011/11/25/friday-image-posin...
- pindi 14y ago
  It's certainly detectable with precise instruments, but it's not practical to test each and every bit of gold one acquires so thoroughly. Hence the opportunity for counterfeit gold that passes casual inspection and weighs about the right amount.