Question

Pure gold is:
(a)24 carat
(b)22carat
(c)20carat
(d)18carat

Answer 1

Hint: Carat is a measure of fineness of a precious metal – gold. It is a representation of the weight of fine or pure gold therein, in proportion to the total weight of the compound which includes alloying base metals and any impurities.

Complete step by step answer:
The 24-carat gold is known as pure gold. It is very soft in nature. Therefore, it is not used for making jewellery. Pure gold is mixed with silver or copper to make an alloy and then convert it to a jewellery.
Carat or karat is also known as ‘Karatage’. It has the symbol ‘k’. It is an indication of the purity or fineness of the gold; i.e. how much gold is actually present in proportion to the total weight of the compound which includes alloying base metals and any impurities.
The following list shows the Karatage used for jewellery –
24 carat Gold is 100% pure Gold:
It is not used in making jewellery since it is too soft.
22 karat Gold is 91.7% Gold:
It is still too soft for jewellery, but has many other applications.
18karat Gold is 75% Gold:
It is used for making high end jewellery.
It has a good balance of strength and value
14 karat Gold is 58.3% Gold.:
It is most widely popular for making jewellery.
It has a good balance of durability and value.
12 karat Gold is 50% Gold:
This is not very pure.
So, it is not used for making jewellery.
10 karat Gold is 41.7% Gold:
It is the lowest grade of Gold to be legally marked as Gold.
It is not acceptable for jewellery.

Therefore, the answer is – option (a) – Pure gold is 24 carat.

Additional Information:People often confuse between carat and karat; both these terms are interchangeably used to indicate the purity of gold.

Note:In order to enhance its colour, gold of high carat is plated on a low carat gold via the method of electroplating. This reduces the cost of the object hence made. A con of this method is that the gold plating of higher carats wears off over time and it needs to be re-plated.