# Silver and Gold **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 30, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750 "2015-12-30T18:57:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750/21 "2015-12-30T22:40:34Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Bismuth is apparently slightly pinkish-silver in its elemental form. > > Of course, more famously, it’s a good deal [more colourful](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bismuth&espv=2&biw=1242&bih=641&tbm=isch&imgil=_NinLF7QyWXNQM%253A%253BS89RtK0NEHamAM%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fen.wikipedia.org%25252Fwiki%25252FBismuth&source=iu&pf=m&fir=_NinLF7QyWXNQM%253A%252CS89RtK0NEHamAM%252C_&usg= __Tm9Yj-sieWFYzXMwgUkYMsCFmt8%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjgueKIu4TKAhWEuxQKHV56BIAQyjcINg&ei=o0OEVqDcKoT3Ut70kYAI#imgrc=_NinLF7QyWXNQM%3A&usg=__ Tm9Yj-sieWFYzXMwgUkYMsCFmt8%3D) than that, but only due to oxides on the surface: That garish blob is bismuth? What is the little metal cube to its right? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750/22 "2015-12-30T23:08:58Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > carbon black ? Pure nonmetals have colors depending on the molecular/crystal form (dark red liquid bromine, yellow sulfur, yellow-green chlorine, violet gaseous iodine) and in the case of cystalline carbon you have both clear diamond and black graphite. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750/23 "2015-12-30T23:35:35Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > That garish blob is bismuth? What is the little metal cube to its right? That’s a cube of the metal not grown into “stairstep” crystals. See various forms here: [http://www.aliexpress.com/cheap/cheap-bismuth-metal.html](http://www.aliexpress.com/cheap/cheap-bismuth-metal.html) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750/24 "2015-12-30T23:42:22Z")
BTW, there are many places you can find with directions for making bismuth crystals on your stovetop: [https://www.google.com/search?q=growing+bismuth+crystals&rlz=1C1GGGE\_enUS453US453&oq=growing+bismuth+crystals&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.7215j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es\_sm=122&ie=UTF-8](https://www.google.com/search?q=growing+bismuth+crystals&rlz=1C1GGGE_enUS453US453&oq=growing+bismuth+crystals&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.7215j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750/25 "2015-12-31T00:09:47Z")
I used to work in marketing, arranging to have advertising printed on signs and direct mail. Once a store manager wanted a mailer printed on “gold” paper. He meant metallic gold paper, whereas the printers I spoke to would assume he meant goldenrod-colored paper. (Yellowish-orange.) Metallic gold paper would be really expensive…if it was even do-able. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750/26 "2015-12-31T09:17:14Z")
In Internet HTML, the color named “Silver” is equal amounts of Red, Green, & Blue, each at 75% intensity (Hex C0C0C0). It’s kind of in the grey range. 00).The Color named “Gold” is a yellow, with Red at 1100%, Green at 84%, and no Blue (Hex FFD ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750/27 "2015-12-31T10:17:13Z")
If you take your typical “gold” ingot from Fort Knox, the process that occurs is that light strikes the ingot and the ingot absorbs the light. All of it. Except for one wavelength. This wavelength, not being absorbed, is reflected towards our eyes, wherein a whole other process occurs, takes real time and too complicated to go into, for us to finally “think”: “Ah, that’s what I interpret as the colour gold.” Thus the ingot is really all colours, except for one: gold. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750/28 "2015-12-31T11:04:39Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > If you take your typical “gold” ingot from Fort Knox, the process that occurs is that light strikes the ingot and the ingot absorbs the light. All of it. Except for one wavelength. This wavelength, not being absorbed, is reflected towards our eyes, wherein a whole other process occurs, takes real time and too complicated to go into, for us to finally “think”: “Ah, that’s what I interpret as the colour gold.” Thus the ingot is really all colours, except for one: gold. Unfortunately, there is no single wavelength that is perceived as gold, which makes this less cute. In any event, if the ingots at Fort Knox are made of “gold”, rather than gold, perhaps we should alert the authorities? If Auric has switched them out for fakes, I blame Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750/29 "2015-12-31T11:10:03Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > According to the Life Science Library volume \*Matter, \* copper and gold are the only colored metals. Osmium is blue-ish. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750/30 "2015-12-31T11:57:53Z")
> [@](#): > > If you take your typical “gold” ingot from Fort Knox, the process that occurs is that light strikes the ingot and the ingot absorbs the light. All of it. Except for one wavelength. This wavelength, not being absorbed, is reflected towards our eyes, wherein a whole other process occurs, takes real time and too complicated to go into, for us to finally “think”: “Ah, that’s what I interpret as the colour gold.” Thus the ingot is really all colours, except for one: gold. This is almost entirely backwards. Almost _none_ of the light is absorbed: Almost all of it is reflected, specularly. That’s why gold is shiny. A small amount of it (but not just one single wavelength) is absorbed, and what’s absorbed is in the blue range, the most un-gold color you can have. Since what’s absorbed is blue, what’s left is proportionately more yellowish. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750/31 "2015-12-31T16:07:54Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Unfortunately, there is no single wavelength that is perceived as gold, which makes this less cute. > > In any event, if the ingots at Fort Knox are made of “gold”, rather than gold, perhaps we should alert the authorities? If Auric has switched them out for fakes, I blame Obama. Yeah. And 50 years ago you would have blamed Kennedy. I saw editorial cartoons of that sort at the time. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750/32 "2016-01-01T09:51:13Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > Bring a moon rock to earth… in regular room light […] it might appear “black”. IME, most moon rocks are mid-grey with either a brownish or greenish tint. Some (the [Genesis Rock](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Apollo_15_Genesis_Rock.jpg), for instance) are largely white because anorthite is largely white. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750/33 "2016-01-01T11:38:18Z")
Metals behave differently to non-metals. Lack of polarisation and the lack of any penetration into the material alone make the reflections have a different character. Surface roughness at very small scales also makes a difference. [One paper on the subject.](http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/pubs/1991/HTSG91.pdf) But as noted above - context is everything. Colours change depending upon their surrounds. Browns only look brown when placed next to other colours. Otherwise they look dark yellow or orange/red. (There is no colour in the CIE gamut that can be identified as brown in isolation.) Just for completeness, the James Webb Space Telescope has mirrors whose structure is made from beryllium, but they are coated in gold. The JWST is intended for infra-red work, and gold is particularly good here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silver-and-gold/741750.md?page=1)