Gold has long been a symbol of prosperity across a number of different cultures,

Question

Gold has long been a symbol of prosperity across a number of different cultures, and the color of gold has been associated with wealth and status. Most metals have a "metallic" color, and when polished, become very shiny. However, gold maintains its brilliant color regardless. Of course, the color of gold is not limited to gold itself. Citrine (a type of quartz, or SiO2) also has a brilliant yellow-orange color, and is commonly used as a gemstone. So why do these materials have this color, and are the fundamental reasons for having this color the same for both materials? In plain language, and using illustrations and drawings if necessary, explain how gold and citrine gets their color, and if both materials get this color for the same reason. You should explain this in the context of how these materials interact with light (at an atomic/electron level) using concepts that we have discussed in this class. Feel free to reference external sources for the answer but please cite them if you do.

Explanation / Answer

Metals are colored because of the obserption and re emmision of light are dependent on wavelength.gold have low reflectivity at short wavelength.and yellow and red are preferentially reflected.

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