Is the gold medal made of pure gold? No, it contains only about 6 grams of gold.

A gold medal represents the highest honor in the sports arena and is the ultimate goal that all athletes strive for. The honor value of a gold medal is incomparable. So, leaving aside the honor value, what is the value of the gold medal itself?

In fact, it is not difficult to calculate the value of a gold medal. In terms of the volume of a general gold medal, if it is made of pure gold, then the weight can reach about 1 kilogram. If calculated based on 350 yuan per gram of gold, the value of a gold medal is about 350,000 yuan, which is indeed quite valuable. Generally speaking, an Olympic Games produces about 300 gold medals. If calculated based on 350,000 yuan per gold medal, the total value will exceed 100 million yuan, which is a considerable expense for the host country. But don't worry, because in most cases, gold medals are not actually made of pure gold. The International Olympic Committee actually has requirements for the gold content of gold medals, and this requirement is "not less than 6 grams."

Different gold medals have different gold contents, but the minimum must not be less than 6 grams. The gold medals used in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics just meet this standard.

The gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics is actually a silver medal covered in gold, that is, 6 grams of gold is plated on the surface of the silver medal. So how much is such a gold medal with a gold content at the minimum standard worth? According to official data, the gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics contains 550 grams of silver and 6 grams of gold. 550 grams of silver is worth about 3,000 yuan, and 6 grams of gold is worth about 2,100 yuan, so the total price of this gold medal is 5,100 yuan. The Tokyo Olympics produced a total of 339 gold medals, with a total value of about 1.7 million.

Although the gold medal is not made of pure gold, the silver medal is genuine. The weight of the silver medal is 6 grams less than the gold medal, which means that the "golden coat" is missing. Since the silver medal is made of pure silver, the bronze medal must also be made of pure copper, right? Not really. The bronze medal of the Tokyo Olympics weighs about 450 grams and is made of 95% copper and 5% zinc.

Since the gold medal is not made of pure gold, but is only plated with a layer of gold on the surface, it is normal for the paint and skin to fall off. If you take it out and play with it frequently, the gold layer on the surface will be worn away and it will become a silver medal.

However, 5,100 yuan is only the value of the gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics. The value of gold medals in every Olympic Games is not the same. For example, the "gold medal inlaid with jade" used in the 2008 Beijing Olympics is worth nearly 70,000 yuan. Of course, the Beijing Olympic gold medal is not the most valuable gold medal in history, but its creativity and artistic value have reached a very high level. In comparison, the gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics seems a bit too simple, but it is not without praiseworthy features. The core of the Tokyo Olympic medals is "environmental protection". Why do you say that? Because all the medals used in the Tokyo Olympics are extracted from recycled electronic waste.

Many people may have heard that gold can be extracted from old mobile phones and computers, and this is indeed the case.

So why can gold be extracted from electronic products? Because gold is an indispensable connection material on the circuit board, and other metals cannot be used to replace it. There are two main reasons. First, gold is a metal with very good ductility. Most metals have very limited ductility. If they are made very thin and fine, they will easily break, but gold will not. Gold has excellent ductility. It can be made into gold foil as thin as a cicada's wing, or it can be pulled into extremely fine gold wires. The circuit board structure is very precise, and extremely thin and fine wires must be used for connection, so gold must be used.

Secondly, the chemical properties of gold are very stable. We have all heard the saying "real gold is not afraid of fire", but most people have a misunderstanding of this saying, thinking that gold will not be melted by fire, which is actually not the case.

"Real gold fears no fire" means that even if gold is melted by fire, it will not oxidize. In layman's terms, after the melted gold solidifies, it is still gold and its chemical properties will not change.

The stable chemical properties of gold are crucial for the connection on the circuit board. As mentioned earlier, the circuit board uses extremely thin and fine filaments for connection. For such thin metal wires, it is very easy to break due to oxidation, so gold, which is not easy to oxidize, becomes the best choice. In addition to being used as a conductor in electronic products, the pins of some electronic components are also plated with a layer of gold. The purpose is to avoid poor contact due to oxidation, so it is true that gold is extracted from electronic products. The Tokyo Olympics extracted 32 kilograms of gold, 3,500 kilograms of silver and 2,200 kilograms of copper from 79,000 tons of electrical appliances and 6.21 million mobile phones, and the gold, silver and bronze medals were made of these refined metals.

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