A gold question - a spacey one at that

[Brotherman]

Ok, I’ve got another question… this one is way out there – literally. I think

that most people know that the satellites put in space all use gold as

their electronic contact points. Gold is used because it is highly conductive

and doesn’t corrode. In fact, gold is so resistant to corrosion that when archeologists opened King Tut’s tomb they said the gold ornaments looked as

if they had just been made and yet they were almost 3500 years old! (The

reason that gold coins tone is because they are NOT 24 carat gold – if they

were they wouldn’t tone) My question is this:

 

Why would we need to worry about corrosion anyway? Satellites function in

the vacuum of space! If there is nothing to react with anyway, why do we

use gold??

 

Maybe there’s a NASA guy or gal out there?

 

Hays

[jtryka]

Maybe because the moisture that is in the air inside the satellite when it is on the earth condenses once it gets into space and that condensed moisture can corrode electronic components? Or maybe it's because of the Roswell cover up and a secret need for the cabal of central banks to rid the monetary system of all gold?

[MAULEMALL]

Or maybe it's because of the Roswell cover up and a secret need for the cabal of central banks to rid the monetary system of all gold?

 

I expect you will be recieving a visit soon

[Brotherman]

Maybe because the moisture that is in the air inside the satellite when it is on the earth condenses once it gets into space and that condensed moisture can corrode electronic components? Or maybe it's because of the Roswell cover up and a secret need for the cabal of central banks to rid the monetary system of all gold?

 

- I'm a bonehead! Of course your first explanation is correct... though I like the second one very much!

 

Hays

[Brotherman]

Or maybe it's because of the Roswell cover up and a secret need for the cabal of central banks to rid the monetary system of all gold?

 

I expect you will be recieving a visit soon

 

I AM from Kentucky, SO...

but then again I don't live in a trailer park, so maybe not.

 

Hays

[jtryka]

Ring ring...

 

...you have a call from a Mr. Bernanke on line 2...and the gentleman from the Bilderburgers is still holding on line 1...

[zrlevin]

Maybe because the moisture that is in the air inside the satellite when it is on the earth condenses once it gets into space and that condensed moisture can corrode electronic components?

 

But I thought you need O2 for corrosion?

 

EDIT: Never mind, I'm an insufficiently_thoughtful_person. Water is two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen.

[Brotherman]

Ring ring...

 

...you have a call from a Mr. Bernanke on line 2...and the gentleman from the Bilderburgers is still holding on line 1...

 

I only WISH I had those contacts!! Bill Gates would be washing my car!

 

Hays

[DaveG]

Perhaps they use gold more for its conductivity than its resistance to corrosion?

[Oldtrader3]

They also use gold for it maleability into microthin sheet.

[Brotherman]

Perhaps they use gold more for its conductivity than its resistance to corrosion?

I bet it is corrosion, copper is an awfully good conductor too but it corrodes

like crazy. I think jtryka hit the nail on the head. In a rocket you have two

forces that are producing condensation

1)Heat – believe it or not cold air can hold more moisture so heating it will

cause condensation – exactly the same reason it always rains when a

cold front meets a warm front

2)Compression – compressing air literally squeezes the moisture out.

As zrlevin pointed out water is one third oxygen, so corrosion is inevitable.

 

Wish I thought this one through first.

 

Hays

[physics-fan3.14]

I am not a NASA guy yet, but I am a rocket scientist in training, and we have studied this issue. Gold is used for several reasons, the most important of which is the fact that it conducts electricity very well, better than almost anything else (and compared to some of the other things used, gold is really cheap)

 

Alot of the areas where gold electronic contacts are used are protected from corrosion. The humidity in the atmosphere really has no effect that high up. Keep in mind that even the lowest satellites fly at around 150 kilometers. The problem with corrosion comes into play because at that level, you have atomic oxygen. Normally on the surface of the earth, oxygen is found as a diatomic molecule. At the outer reaches of the atmosphere, this diatomic oxygen has dissasciated into just plain O (due to reactions with the solar wind). This atomic oxygen is extremely reactive, and will bond to anything and cause corrosion.

 

The other reason gold is used on alot of things is because it is a very good shield. By that, I am referring again to the solar wind and the particles associated with that. Gold is highly reflective when used properly, and will shield very sensitive electronics from the highly charged particles that come from the sun and other sources in space. That is why often you will see a satellite covered in gold foil. That is also why the astronauts visors have a gold plating.

 

As Brotherman has mentioned, moisture is an issue sometimes, but that is more properly fixed on earth before launch. Another issue is outgassing, which is when tiny gas bubbles are trapped in the materials and in the vacuum of space are able to work their way out. These can coat sensitive electronics, but this is dealt with in other ways.

 

So, this is probably much more than you wanted to know, but, there it is. Like I said, gold is used because it is cheap, easy to work with, easy to obtain, and just about the best at what it does.

[EZ_E]

I certainly couldn't have answered your question like physicsfan but just because space is a vacuum does not mean that it is emptiness. There are all sorts of particles and radiation out there which can react with the circuits.

[Brotherman]

I am not a NASA guy yet, but I am a rocket scientist in training, and we have studied this issue. Gold is used for several reasons, the most important of which is the fact that it conducts electricity very well, better than almost anything else (and compared to some of the other things used, gold is really cheap)

 

Alot of the areas where gold electronic contacts are used are protected from corrosion. The humidity in the atmosphere really has no effect that high up. Keep in mind that even the lowest satellites fly at around 150 kilometers. The problem with corrosion comes into play because at that level, you have atomic oxygen. Normally on the surface of the earth, oxygen is found as a diatomic molecule. At the outer reaches of the atmosphere, this diatomic oxygen has dissasciated into just plain O (due to reactions with the solar wind). This atomic oxygen is extremely reactive, and will bond to anything and cause corrosion.

 

The other reason gold is used on alot of things is because it is a very good shield. By that, I am referring again to the solar wind and the particles associated with that. Gold is highly reflective when used properly, and will shield very sensitive electronics from the highly charged particles that come from the sun and other sources in space. That is why often you will see a satellite covered in gold foil. That is also why the astronauts visors have a gold plating.

 

As Brotherman has mentioned, moisture is an issue sometimes, but that is more properly fixed on earth before launch. Another issue is outgassing, which is when tiny gas bubbles are trapped in the materials and in the vacuum of space are able to work their way out. These can coat sensitive electronics, but this is dealt with in other ways.

 

So, this is probably much more than you wanted to know, but, there it is. Like I said, gold is used because it is cheap, easy to work with, easy to obtain, and just about the best at what it does.

 

THANK YOU!

As you can see I am NO rocket scientist...

But I always have these weird questions that I can't find the answer

to. I'll no doubt bug the help out of you physics-fan.

 

Hays

[macrocoin]

Some info.....not sure if this answers your question, but it may lead you to one.

 

http://www.cerac.com/pubs/cmn/cmn9_3.htm

[Brotherman]

Ok physics-fan here's another one of my goofy questions:

 

You know how water goes down the drain in a clockwise swirl in the

northern hemisphere and in the southern hemisphere it’s a

counterclockwise swirl? How would it go down the drain if you were standing

right on the equator, exactly equidistant to the poles?

 

I thought of this stupid question about ten years ago and have never found

a satisfactory answer. I even had a few too many beers one afternoon

and actually called NASA! At first the operator thought I was nuts, but then

she actually connected me through to an engineer! He like my

question – even passed it around the room.

Half the room thought it would glug down straight like a water cooler. The

other half thought that you couldn’t position yourself exactly between the

poles – they thought one pole would always have a slightly stronger pull.

 

Me – I have no idea.

 

Here is an interesting fact about the earth’s poles:

Since opposite poles attract and same poles repel and all northern poles

of magnets, including compasses, are attracted to the North Pole. Then

either every single magnet on earth is mislabeled or the earth’s South Pole

is actually in the northern hemisphere and the North Pole is in the southern hemisphere.

 

Hays

[EZ_E]

The South Pole is actually magnetic north if I remember right.

 

Hmmm....interesting about the equator. I went below South America and noticed the backwards drain. Don't know about being right on the equator, though. Interesting thought about it going straight down since there has to be a transition phase.

[cpm9ball]

Ok, I’ve got another question… this one is way out there – literally. I think

that most people know that the satellites put in space all use gold as

their electronic contact points. Gold is used because it is highly conductive

and doesn’t corrode. In fact, gold is so resistant to corrosion that when archeologists opened King Tut’s tomb they said the gold ornaments looked as

if they had just been made and yet they were almost 3500 years old! (The

reason that gold coins tone is because they are NOT 24 carat gold – if they

were they wouldn’t tone) My question is this:

 

Why would we need to worry about corrosion anyway? Satellites function in

the vacuum of space! If there is nothing to react with anyway, why do we

use gold??

 

Maybe there’s a NASA guy or gal out there?

 

Hays

 

Hays, physics could probably best answer this, but if I were to guess, it could have something to do with conductivity and resistance.

 

Chris

[physics-fan3.14]

Well, the water draining question is an interesting one. Would it hurt your feelings if I told you it was all a myth? Don't feel bad, almost everyone has been told the same story, and so everyone believes the same story. But it just isn't true.

 

Let me start with what is true. It is true that hurricanes will spin in opposite directions in opposite hemispheres. This is caused by the Coriolis effect (which is a little too complicated to get into here. Look it up in Wikipedia.) But the Coriolis effect is very small, so it takes a long time to be observed. Hurricanes, which are not only very large but form slowly, are effected by this. Water in your sink drains very quickly and your sink is usually very small, so it is nearly impossible to detect the effects of this motion.

 

However, if you were to perform a certain experiment in the two hemispheres you would notice opposite spins. What you need is a perfectly circular sink. Pour the water in and wait a week or so for all vibrations introduced by the pouring action to dampen out. Then drain the sink through a very small hole in the bottom. After a couple of hours, you will be able to detect the spin. If you perform this in the northern hemisphere, you will notice an opposite spin than if you were in the southern hemisphere.

 

What you commonly observe in your bathtub or kitchen sink is not caused by this at all. It is instead caused by turbulence in the water. It is equally possible for counterclockwise and clockwise spin in both hemispheres, based on the conditions of the water. For instance, when you are draining the sink one day, swirl your hand a little bit and induce counterclockwise motion in the water. The water will then swirl in a counterclockwise direction. The next time you drain the sink, induce motion in a clockwise direction. The water will swirl in a clockwise direction. You may say, "But what if I don't induce motion? Then what happens?" The result in this case is caused by chaos theory. All of the initial conditions add up to produce a certain result. It is impossible for you to know all of the initial conditions, so it really is impossible to predict the future. It all comes down to the result that water draining will swirl in both directions wherever you are.

 

As for the equator, which is really your question, the answer is simple if you take the preceeding explanation into account. Try to answer it for yourself, and then look at the answer below.

 

 

 

 

At the equator, the swirl you normally observe will occur in both directions, just like anywhere else. It is a function of the currents in the water when you start to drain. However, if you perform the experiment described with a perfectly circular bowl and a small hole, after all vibrations have been dampened out, and assuming that you are perfectly aligned at the equator, you will observe no spin. The Coriolis effect decreases to zero at the equator (obviously, you have to have some reference point from which to judge the effect. In the previous paragraphs, our reference point was the equator.)

 

So, I hope this helps explain the mystery to you, and debunks the myth for at least a few people. Read the link below if you want more explanation.

Bad Coriolis

[Brotherman]

Well, the water draining question is an interesting one. Would it hurt your feelings if I told you it was all a myth? Don't feel bad, almost everyone has been told the same story, and so everyone believes the same story. But it just isn't true.

 

Let me start with what is true. It is true that hurricanes will spin in opposite directions in opposite hemispheres. This is caused by the Coriolis effect (which is a little too complicated to get into here. Look it up in Wikipedia.) But the Coriolis effect is very small, so it takes a long time to be observed. Hurricanes, which are not only very large but form slowly, are effected by this. Water in your sink drains very quickly and your sink is usually very small, so it is nearly impossible to detect the effects of this motion.

 

However, if you were to perform a certain experiment in the two hemispheres you would notice opposite spins. What you need is a perfectly circular sink. Pour the water in and wait a week or so for all vibrations introduced by the pouring action to dampen out. Then drain the sink through a very small hole in the bottom. After a couple of hours, you will be able to detect the spin. If you perform this in the northern hemisphere, you will notice an opposite spin than if you were in the southern hemisphere.

 

What you commonly observe in your bathtub or kitchen sink is not caused by this at all. It is instead caused by turbulence in the water. It is equally possible for counterclockwise and clockwise spin in both hemispheres, based on the conditions of the water. For instance, when you are draining the sink one day, swirl your hand a little bit and induce counterclockwise motion in the water. The water will then swirl in a counterclockwise direction. The next time you drain the sink, induce motion in a clockwise direction. The water will swirl in a clockwise direction. You may say, "But what if I don't induce motion? Then what happens?" The result in this case is caused by chaos theory. All of the initial conditions add up to produce a certain result. It is impossible for you to know all of the initial conditions, so it really is impossible to predict the future. It all comes down to the result that water draining will swirl in both directions wherever you are.

 

As for the equator, which is really your question, the answer is simple if you take the preceeding explanation into account. Try to answer it for yourself, and then look at the answer below.

 

 

 

 

At the equator, the swirl you normally observe will occur in both directions, just like anywhere else. It is a function of the currents in the water when you start to drain. However, if you perform the experiment described with a perfectly circular bowl and a small hole, after all vibrations have been dampened out, and assuming that you are perfectly aligned at the equator, you will observe no spin. The Coriolis effect decreases to zero at the equator (obviously, you have to have some reference point from which to judge the effect. In the previous paragraphs, our reference point was the equator.)

 

So, I hope this helps explain the mystery to you, and debunks the myth for at least a few people. Read the link below if you want more explanation.

Bad Coriolis

 

A MYTH??

It's funny the guys at NASA didn't know that! Of course, for all I know I could

have been talking to a janitor!

 

But, I can see how it got started when you mentioned the experiment.

So what you are saying is right at the equator the water wouldn't spin - it

would go down straight?

 

Think I just got a new wrinkle in my brain! ...er, before you say it - I know that one's a myth - just an expression that's all.

 

Hays