1.1 What is Chemistry?

680 Pages·2014·41.98 MB·English

CK-12 Chemistry - Basic
Kevin Pyatt, Ph.D.
Donald Calbreath, Ph.D.
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Contents www.ck12.org
Contents
1 IntroductiontoChemistry 1
1.1 WhatisChemistry? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 TheScientificMethod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2 MatterandChange 18
2.1 PropertiesofMatter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2 ClassificationofMatter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.3 ChangesinMatter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3 Measurement 39
3.1 UnitsofMeasurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.2 UnitConversions,Error,andUncertainty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.3 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
4 AtomicStructure 63
4.1 EvolutionoftheAtomicModel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.2 StructureoftheAtom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.3 IsotopesandAtomicMass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5 ElectronsinAtoms 84
5.1 PropertiesofLight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.2 TheBohrandQuantumMechanicalModelsoftheAtom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
5.3 ElectronArrangementinAtoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
5.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
6 ThePeriodicTable 111
6.1 HistoryofthePeriodicTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
6.2 ElectronConfigurationandthePeriodicTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
6.3 TrendsinthePeriodicTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
6.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
7 ChemicalNomenclature 142
7.1 IonicCompounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.2 MolecularCompounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
7.3 AcidsandBases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
7.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
8 IonicandMetallicBonding 163
8.1 Ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
8.2 IonicBondsandIonicCompounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
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8.3 MetalsandMetallicBonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
8.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
9 CovalentBonding 185
9.1 LewisElectronDotStructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
9.2 MolecularGeometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
9.3 PolarityinChemicalBonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
9.4 IntermolecularForces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
9.5 HybridizationandMolecularOrbitals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
9.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
10 TheMole 223
10.1 TheMoleConcept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
10.2 Mass,Volume,andtheMole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
10.3 ChemicalFormulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
10.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
11 ChemicalReactions 244
11.1 ChemicalEquations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
11.2 TypesofChemicalReactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
11.3 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
12 Stoichiometry 264
12.1 MoleRatios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
12.2 StoichiometricCalculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
12.3 LimitingReactantandPercentYield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
12.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
13 StatesofMatter 282
13.1 TheKinetic-MolecularTheoryofGases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
13.2 LiquidsandSolids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
13.3 ChangesofState . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
13.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
14 ThePropertiesofGases 302
14.1 GasProperties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
14.2 GasLaws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
14.3 GasMixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
14.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
15 Water 325
15.1 PropertiesofWater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
15.2 AqueousSolutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
15.3 ColloidsandSuspensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
15.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
16 Solutions 347
16.1 Solubility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
16.2 SolutionConcentration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
16.3 ColligativeProperties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
16.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
17 Thermochemistry 377
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17.1 HeatFlow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
17.2 Enthalpy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
17.3 EnthalpyandPhaseTransitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
17.4 Hess’sLaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
17.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
18 Kinetics 401
18.1 RatesofReactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
18.2 RateLaws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
18.3 ReactionMechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
18.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
19 ChemicalEquilibrium 426
19.1 TheNatureofChemicalEquilibrium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
19.2 ApplicationsofEquilibriumConstants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
19.3 FactorsAffectingChemicalEquilibria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
19.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
20 EntropyandFreeEnergy 450
20.1 Entropy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
20.2 SpontaneousReactionsandFreeEnergy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
20.3 FreeEnergyandEquilibrium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
20.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471
21 AcidsandBases 472
21.1 Acid-BaseDefinitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
21.2 ThepHConcept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478
21.3 AcidandBaseStrength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
21.4 Acid-BaseNeutralizationReactionsandTitrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
21.5 SaltSolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
21.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
22 OxidationReductionReactions 502
22.1 NatureofOxidationandReduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
22.2 OxidationNumbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
22.3 BalancingRedoxEquations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
22.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522
23 Electrochemistry 523
23.1 ElectrochemicalCells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524
23.2 CellPotential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534
23.3 Electrolysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544
23.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550
24 NuclearChemistry 551
24.1 NuclearRadiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
24.2 Half-Lives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
24.3 FissionandFusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563
24.4 ApplicationsofRadioactivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
24.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
25 OrganicChemistry 575
25.1 Hydrocarbons–TheBackboneofOrganicChemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
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25.2 FunctionalGroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
25.3 OrganicReactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592
25.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
26 Biochemistry 603
26.1 Carbohydrates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
26.2 AminoAcidsandProteins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609
26.3 Lipids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
26.4 NucleicAcids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624
26.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632
27 Glossary 633
27.1 A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
27.2 B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
27.3 C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639
27.4 D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642
27.5 E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644
27.6 F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646
27.7 G . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648
27.8 H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
27.9 I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
27.10 K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
27.11 L . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654
27.12 M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656
27.13 N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658
27.14 O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659
27.15 P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
27.16 R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663
27.17 R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664
27.18 S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
27.19 T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
27.20 U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668
27.21 V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
27.22 W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 670
27.23 Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
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www.ck12.org Chapter1. IntroductiontoChemistry
C 1
HAPTER
Introduction to Chemistry
Chapter Outline
1.1 WHAT IS CHEMISTRY?
1.2 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
1.3 REFERENCES
Diabetesmellitusisadiseasecharacterizedbythebody’sinabilitytoregulateglucoselevels. Glucose(acomponent
oftablesugar)isneededtoprovidebiochemicalenergyforallthecellsofthebody. Whenthisprocessisdisrupted,
the body begins to break down fat and protein to provide the needed energy, which can eventually lead to death.
Diabetesismediatedbyaproteincalledinsulin. AkeypieceofourunderstandingofdiabetescamewhenFrederick
Sanger, a British biochemist, carried out experiments to determine the structure of the insulin molecule. Sanger
(shownintheopeningimage)usedbasicchemistrytechniquesandreactionsandtooktwelveyearstocompletehis
research. Today, automated instruments based on his approach can perform the same analysis in a matter of days.
SangerwasawardedtheNobelPrizeinChemistryin1958forhisinsulinresearch. Thechemicalprocessesthatwon
Sanger the Nobel Prize is pictured on the right in the opening image. In this chapter, we will look at the history of
chemistry,seethemanyareasofourlivesthataretouchedbychemistry,anddevelopabasicunderstandingofwhat
isinvolvedintheprocessofscientificdiscovery.
Sangerimage:Courtesyof theNational Institutesof Health.commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frederick_Sanger2.jpg.PublicDomain.
Molecule:User:Sponk/WikimediaCommons.commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sanger_peptide_end−group_analysis.svg.PublicDomain.
1
1.1. WhatisChemistry? www.ck12.org
1.1 What is Chemistry?
Lesson Objectives
• Definetheterm“chemistry.”
• Describetheactivitiesofalchemistsandhowtheycontributedtothemodernscienceofchemistry.
• List some of the key scientists from the early history of chemistry along with their primary contributions to
thefield.
• Listvariousmodernitemsthathavebeendevelopedthroughthestudyofchemistry.
Lesson Vocabulary
• chemistry: Thescienceoftheproperties,reaction,composition,andstructuresofmatter.
• matter: Anythingthathasmassandtakesupspace.
• alchemist: A practitioner of the Medieval science of alchemy, which aimed mainly to transform everyday
metalsintogold.
• philosopher’sstone: Asubstancethatcouldcausethetransmutationofleadintogold.
A Brief History of Chemistry
WhatisChemistry?
If we look up the word “ chemistry” in the dictionary, we’ll find something like this: “The science of the com-
position, structure, properties, and reactions of matter, especially of atomic and molecular systems” (Free Online
Dictionary). This definition is accurate, but it does not give us a good picture of the scope of chemistry or any
practicalaspectsofthefield.
Chemistry touches every area of our lives. The medicines we take, the food we eat, the clothes we wear –all these
materials and more are, in some way or another, a product of chemistry. Later on in this chapter, we will look in
detailatsomeofthewaysthatchemistrycontributestoourlives.
WhereDidChemistryComeFrom?
Althoughthesystematicstudyofchemistryisrelativelynew, chemicaltechniqueshavebeenusedforthousandsof
years. Somecivilizationskeptgoodrecordsofthesetechniques,whichgiveusdirectinformationaboutwhatearlier
people knew. Fields of study such as archaeology provide additional information. Legends and folklore are also
usefultoolstolearnaboutthechemicalknowledgeofpreviouscultures.
Thousandsofyearsago,theancientEgyptiansusedchemicalpracticestodeveloptechniquesforproducingperfumes
and dyes. Studies of objects found in Egyptian tombs show that materials for coloring fabrics were known as far
backas2600B.C.
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www.ck12.org Chapter1. IntroductiontoChemistry
AnotherareaofchemistrythatwashighlydevelopedbytheearlyEgyptianswasmetallurgy. Beginninginabout3400
B.C., records show a highly developed technology for refining copper, gold, iron, and other metals. Although the
reasonsthesetechniquesworkedwerenotfullyunderstood,therefinerswereabletoproducehigh-qualitymaterials
thatwereusedinjewelry,decorations,andmoney.
Glass production also appears to have been first developed by the Egyptians (see Figure 1.1). A number of tomb
paintingsshowglass-blowingandthemanufacturingofglassproducts. Theglasswasoftencolored, suggestingan
understandingoftheuseofdyesfordecoration.
FIGURE1.1
ThisancientEgyptianglassjarisover3000yearsold.
Various types of medicines were also discovered by many ancient people. Records from civilizations around the
world show that certain plants were used for healing specific disorders and for dealing with pain. The earliest
medical“textbook”consistedofhundredsofclaytabletsfoundinMesopotamia,datingfromabout2600B.C.These
tabletshadinformationaboutthousandsofplantsandplantmaterialsthathadbeneficialeffects. AnEgyptianpapyrus
from around 1550 B.C had over 800 prescriptions and 700 natural materials that were used for medical treatment
(see Figure 1.2). The famous Greek physician Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) wrote about using lemon juice as a
laxative and an extract from the belladonna plant as an anesthetic. Indian writings from around 900 B.C. describe
the preparations of over 300 different medicines. Traditional Chinese medicine has records from 350 B.C. that
describeover240medicinalpreparationsand150drugcombinationsusedtotreatvariousailments. Oraltraditions
frombothNorthandSouthAmericaalsodescribepreparationsusedforhealing. SomeSouthAmericantribesused
the venom from specific frogs (usually very brightly colored ones) for poisons. The chemical properties of these
substances was not understood at the time, but chemical techniques were often used to isolate and purify various
usefulmaterials.
TheRiseandFalloftheAlchemists
One area of technology present in all of the societies we have mentioned was metallurgy. Properly refined metals
couldbemadeintousefultoolsthatcouldlastalongtime. Weaponscouldstaysharplongerwithimprovedmetals.
Additionally, precious metals such as gold and silver could be refined and used in jewelry or as money. Because
it was fairly rare, gold was considered to be very valuable and became a common means of paying for goods and
services.
We don’t know exactly when humans began mining for gold. Items made from gold have been found in Bulgarian
graves that are over 7000 years old. Archaeological studies show clear evidence of gold mining in many parts
of the world from over 4000 years ago. During the time of the Roman Empire, the Romans had developed very
sophisticatedmethodsforextractinggoldfromtheearth.
However,miningforgoldisaslow,dirty,anddangerousprocess. Additionally,noteveryoneownsagoldmine–in
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