You should learn how to test gold with baking soda regardless of where you get your gold jewellery or coins from. Sometimes, in order not to end up a victim of fraud, we need to ensure the gold items we collect are genuine. Using baking soda is one of the easiest ways to try your gold without much scientific knowledge.
If you want to test gold with baking soda, mix the powder in water. Dip the gold into the mixture and leave for thirty minutes when you’ve mixed it. Afterwards, you can bring it out, rinse it and dampen it using a material before observing it. If it’s real gold, you’ll notice slight scratchings, which the reaction with the baking soda caused.
There are several ways to test whether gold is real or not, either through weight, abilities, and reactions. However, everyone needs to learn how to test gold with baking soda as it is a more straightforward, homely process.
Is It Worth Testing Gold?
Generations have recognised this precious metal as part of the most outstanding and beautiful resources for millenniums. Today, people still see it as a symbol of wealth and elegance that everyone desires. Gold has been part of the most expensive commodities for thousands of years.
Societies worldwide have used it in everything from money and architecture to jewellery and décor. Certain ancient civilisations even felt it had therapeutic powers! However, with this prestige comes a plethora of difficult-to-detect counterfeit gold products.
There are now scientific ways to make a common metal look precisely like gold. This process is known as gold plating, and plated gold is nothing compared to the real deal. Many people have fallen victim to paying for real gold and getting a plated metal like brass instead.
To make the best out of any gold you may have, you need to learn how to test them. Knowing the worth of what you have is the most significant benefit you can gain from learning how to test gold.
What You Should Know about Testing Gold with Baking Soda
This is one of the easiest ways to know if you have real gold at the convenience of your home. With straightforward processes, you should be able to tell the real and plated gold apart quickly. However, before you begin this process, you must learn about some of the features of the original gold.
Gold has a warm golden-yellowish tone with a natural shine. This metal’s ductility is illustrated through gold plating and leafing.
It is an excellent heat and electrical conductor on a more technical level. Gold outlasts both copper and silver due to its tarnish resistance. It also reflects so much heat and light that astronauts’ space helmets have a thin layer of gold on them.
How to Test Gold with Baking Soda
Using baking soda is a great way to test gold without spending much. Additionally, you don’t require so much scientific knowledge or experience with testing substances to pull it off.
Baking soda is a cooking ingredient you can find in virtually every home. With some of the powder, a pot, and a water source, you should be good to go. Below is a step-by-step process of how to test gold with baking soda.
1. Prepare the Mixture
Put some water into the pot or cup, whichever you have. Mix the baking powder in the water with the equation – one part of water to three parts of baking soda. Ensure you get the measurements right and blend them thoroughly.
2. Put in the Object
Immerse the test object into the mixture thoroughly and leave it for at least thirty minutes.
3. Clean Out the Object
Take out the object from the mixture and rinse it under a tap or any other source of running water. Afterwards, dry it with a cloth.
4. Make Your Observations
If it generates a reaction (most times, scratching), the gold is genuine. Real gold is too soft to scratch with any abrasive, even mild ones like baking soda. Hence, when there is any contact, this is the case.
What Other Ways Can You Test Gold?
One of the most significant disadvantages of using baking soda is that it can ruin your gold with scratches if real. Here are some other homely ways to test gold:
1. The Nitric Acid Test
Rub your gold object against a black stone to leave a visible mark, then fill the spot with nitric acid. Any non-gold base metals will dissolve in nitric acid, leaving a true gold mark in nitric acid.
2. Use a Magnet
If you have a powerful magnet, place it near your gold jewellery. Any attraction suggests that the piece is not genuine because gold is not magnetic. However, this test isn’t reliable because many other metals aren’t magnetic.
3. Try a Float Test
The float test, often known as the density test, is a straightforward procedure. Gold is an incredibly dense metal. Per square foot, solid gold can weigh more than half a ton!
Genuine gold jewellery, as a result, is unlikely to float. In a cup of water, see if your gold object floats or sinks.
Conclusion
This post has provided comprehensive information on how to test gold with baking soda. Still, you should try out other means if you’re looking for a foolproof method. Ensure you always scrutinise any gold material before you purchase. Nowadays, you can’t exactly tell what’s original anymore with dubious people manipulating these things.
