Why Doesn't Gold Tarnish?
SciShow · Published on October 15, 2026
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Why doesn't gold tarnish? A simple answer might be that it's a so-called "noble metal"—its atoms don't like to chemically react with others. But a more complex answer also answers *why* gold atoms are so unreactive. Some of it is due to special relativity, and some is due to a phenomenon called reconstruction. Hosted by: Hank Green (he/him) ---------- Support us for $8/month on Patreon and keep SciShow going! https://www.patreon.com/scishow Or support us directly: https://complexly.com/support Join our SciShow email list to get the latest news and highlights: https://mailchi.mp/scishow/email ---------- Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: ., Adam Brainard, Alex Hackman, Anita, Anne Herrington, Ashley Moquin, Bethany Matthews, Blood Doctor Kelly, Chris Curry, Chris Mackey, Chris Peters, Cye Stoner, David Johnston, Eric Jensen, Friso, Garrett Galloway, J.V. Rosenbalm, Jaap Westera, Jacob Puthoff, Jason A Saslow, Jeremy Mattern, Jon Coffman, Joseph Ruf, Jp Lynch, Kevin Bealer, Kevin Knupp, Lyndsay Brown, Matt Curls, Piya Shedden, Shaji John, Steve Gums, Timos Gies, Toyas Dhake, yeyette ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? SciShow Tangents Podcast: https://scishow-tangents.simplecast.com/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scishow Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/scishow.bsky.social #SciShow #science #education #learning #complexly ---------- Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vTm5pQrbrNpylnuwLf6y9s5ZcL_VMudbX8U4QjldO5yXOuy-14ay4T2ABHjkH8SVsRoM9bS8MiKkraa/pub
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