When you think of gold, you probably think of jewelry, gold bars, or even, if you're old like me,
gold slogger. But gold is actually extremely common and important in electronics as well.
You've probably seen it on contacts for everything from RAM to HDMI to memory cards,
or these CPU pillows from LTTstore.com. They're actually way softer than I've never touched
one before. But why is it used so widely? I mean, copper does a fine job of conducting electricity,
so why do we need to use gold? Well, you're right about copper,
but gold is superior in some key ways that make it a really good choice for certain applications.
For one, gold is very non-reactive and resists corrosion and tarnishing. Even though gold is
slightly less conductive than copper, it still offers electrons extremely little resistance,
and you don't have to worry about it reacting with chemicals in the environment as much as you
do with copper, which is why this baby is still looking good. And considering that most electronic
components use low voltages and current levels, a small amount of tarnish on the conducting
material can have a big impact on signal integrity. So for intricate connections, many manufacturers
don't take their chances with anything other than gold. This leads well into the next point.
Gold is a soft, incredibly ductile metal. It's very easy to work into any shape and size you
might need. And although copper can obviously be drawn into wire, gold is even softer and can be
stretched thinner, making it ideal when you think about how small some of these connections are.
We're talking only a few micrometers, meaning gold's softness combined with its relative
non-reactivity make it a great choice. In fact, gold is very popular for what's called wire bonding,
the act of connecting a semiconductor die to the package that holds it, like what you might see
on your typical desktop CPU. Gold can carry a lot of heat without melting or cracking,
so it won't hurt your performance just because it's inside the hot environment of your CPU package.
This is especially important in automotive applications. Our cars are becoming packed with
more and more electronics, some of which control critical systems. You don't want an autonomous
driving feature to fail when you're going down the highway at 70 miles an hour. So gold is used
because it's resistant to the thermal and environmental hazards your car can encounter
while it's in motion. Additionally, gold is very easy for modern manufacturing devices to bond
quickly, so it allows chips to roll off the line in large numbers. But gold is also useful for
applications you might actually see every day. You know how more premium cables are sold with
gold plated connectors? Although this doesn't do anything to make your signal faster, it does keep
the connector from wearing down as quickly. Although gold is a soft metal, it actually provides good
resistance to wear and tear when it's alloyed with a small amount of another metal such as nickel.
Okay, okay, I get it. Gold is awesome. We love gold. But it's super expensive, right? How can we even
afford our gadgets if all of this gold isn't all of them? Well, it turns out that you don't need a
whole lot of gold for most electronic applications since it's mainly used for small intricate
connections. Your typical smartphone contains less than a dollar's worth of gold. So even though
it's obviously more expensive than copper, its advantages still make it the most sensible choice
in many situations. But one thing to keep in mind is that unfortunately, not very much of the total
gold used in electronics is ever reclaimed. This means that the cost of gold in manufacturing
can and has gone up over time. So if you've got an old PC or phone that you're not selling
and just need to dispose of, remember to recycle it properly and to help keep the price of gold
under control. That's my PSA for today. And remember that those cash for gold places won't
accept your old motherboard. I've tried. So thanks for watching guys. If you liked this video,
hit like, hit subscribe, and hit us up in the comment section with your suggestions for videos
that we should cover in the future. Always suck at sports.