Gold is a chemical element with symbol Au(from Latin:aureum)and atomic number 79.In its purest form,it is a bright,slightly reddish yellow,dense,soft,malleable and ductile metal.Chemically,gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element.It is one of the least reactive chemical elements,and is solid under standard conditions.The metal therefore occurs often in free elemental(native)form,as nuggets or grains,in rocks,in veins and in alluvial deposits.It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver(as electrum)and also naturally alloyed with copper and palladium.Less commonly,it occurs in minerals as gold compounds,often with tellurium(gold tellurides).
