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Asked by wizzyg12 to Sam, Rob on 25 Jun 2013.
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Sam Geen answered on 25 Jun 2013:
Supernovae! Ordinarily you can’t make elements heavier than iron by nuclear fusion because you don’t get any energy from it. But in the extreme heat of an exploding star, you can fuse iron to make heavier elements like silver, gold, etc.
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Robert Woolfson answered on 25 Jun 2013:
Not alchemy. Absolutely not alchemy. Except when stars turn one element into another. But that’s not alchemy. Or at least not alchemy we can recreate here on earth.
Comments
Matt commented on :
Gold is geologically weird for a few reasons, which makes it hard to explore for (trust me – I did that for a while!). Basically what happens is really hot salty water from under the earth (usually near volcanoes or magmas deeper down) can dissolve the tiiiiiny amounts of gold that is in most rocks down at those depths. Then it travels upwards and as it cools down as it gets near the surface it can’t hold onto the gold anymore so it drops it – and forms nuggets. Then the rocks erode down of the years and we come along and find it sticking out of the ground and jump up and down yelling “we’re rich!” Well, only that last bit every now and again…