Question

why does polishing of gold shows a slight decrease in its weight

Answer 1

Hey there !

To polish the gold ornament the goldsmith use a  liquid called aqua regia which is mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acids  to clean jewellery. Usually gold  doesn’t react with acids. But Aqua regia  can dissolve gold. When gold is dipped in aqua regia the outer dull layer dissolves in aqua regia and the inner shiny layer appears. Due to this, some gold is lost during the polishing process. This causes the reduction in the weight.

Hope it helps you !

Answer 2

Hello everyone...

To polish the gold ornament the goldsmith use a  liquid called aqua regia which is mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acids  to clean jewellery. Usually gold  doesn’t react with acids. But Aqua regia  can dissolve gold. When gold is dipped in aqua regia the outer dull layer dissolves in aqua regia and the inner shiny layer appears. Due to this, some gold is lost during the polishing process. This causes the reduction in the weight.

Hope this helps you...