# Are there gold plated?



## Magagna (Jan 13, 2015)

Hi friends, are there gold plated?. There are the bolts of the screws of asus notebook. I happen to find them in variously electronics scraps like mobile cellular etc. thanks to all


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## g_axelsson (Jan 13, 2015)

No, just brass. To test if something is gold plated just put a drop of nitric on it and most base metals dissolves, leaving any gold plating floating around in the liquid.

Göran


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## FrugalRefiner (Jan 13, 2015)

Probably just brass. 

When thinking about whether something is gold plated, ask yourself why it would be gold plated. With very few exceptions, manufacturers only gold plate things if it's necessary and serves a purpose. I can't think of a reason a manufacturer would need to gold plate these.

Dave


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## Magagna (Jan 13, 2015)

Thanks for the answers. I understand.


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## rickbb (Jan 13, 2015)

"All that glitters is not gold."

In electronics only parts that conduct very small amounts of electricity and/or have a temporary connection to some other part get gold plating. This is done because any amount of corrosion would cause the current to stop flowing, and/or because it's such a small amount of current to begin with.

Gold does not corrode, (on a human time scale anyway), and is very conductive making it able to carry very tiny amounts of current.


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## Barren Realms 007 (Jan 13, 2015)

rickbb said:


> "All that glitters is not gold."
> 
> In electronics only parts that conduct very small amounts of electricity and/or have a temporary connection to some other part get gold plating. This is done because any amount of corrosion would cause the current to stop flowing, and/or because it's such a small amount of current to begin with.
> 
> Gold does not corrode, (on a human time scale anyway), and is very conductive making it able to carry very tiny amounts of current.



That is not always true. I have run across many thing's that were gold plated when it wasn't needed.


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## Harold_V (Jan 13, 2015)

rickbb said:


> "All that glitters is not gold."
> 
> In electronics only parts that conduct very small amounts of electricity and/or have a temporary connection to some other part get gold plating. This is done because any amount of corrosion would cause the current to stop flowing, and/or because it's such a small amount of current to begin with.
> 
> Gold does not corrode, (on a human time scale anyway), and is very conductive making it able to carry very tiny amounts of current.


I would caution readers to not assume that all fasteners are not gold plated, although it is rare to find them. I have in my possession, to this day, a small plastic bottle filled with plated screws, nuts and lock washers, removed from very early microwave components (from defense items). Not only were the fasteners plated, the gold removed from these items ran about ½% of the total weight. Extremely unusual, but certainly possible. 

Harold


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## rickbb (Jan 14, 2015)

I guess instead of "only" I should have said "normally".

One word makes a big difference.


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