“ If iron pyrite is faux gold, then this gold rush in Australia- which eventually found desperate prospectors knocking down their own chimneys with pickaxes and sifting through the rubble - was perhaps the first stampede in history caused by ‘fool’s fool’s gold.’’
Gold is something that people think is really valuable. Some don’t even know the differences between real or fake gold. At points, people get confused on what they are wearing or using. Real gold and fool's gold have different qualities. Depending on weight/pound of fool’s gold it would cost around $4.99 per pound. Real gold worth would also depend on the weight and how much is in the product so the cost would be around $1,293.55 per pound.
Fool’s gold is made out of pyrite. Pyrite got the nickname “fool’s gold” because of its yellowish hue. Fools gold is used in various objects including jewelry or car batteries. They are used in jewelry because fool’s gold looks similar to real gold. For this reason, real gold is able to be mixed with fools gold. If pyrite is mixed with real gold the cost of the jewelry is cheaper than the jewelry being pure gold (24k gold). Fools gold is used in more jewelry than expected because it is more abundant than real gold is. Fools gold is also used in car batteries to help charge the batteries quicker and help the battery to last longer. Pyrite is one of the most abundant minerals on Earth’s surface therefore making it cheaper.
The California Gold Rush was an important event because it got people to move to the west, but it was hard on people because of the housing situation. Americans moved to the west and left their family and their house. People had to build houses from the ground up and had to cultivate the land. In The Disappearing Spoon, Sam Kean states, “ If iron pyrite is faux gold, then this gold rush in Australia- which eventually found desperate prospectors knocking down their own chimneys with pickaxes and sifting through the rubble - was perhaps the first stampede in history caused by ‘fool’s fool’s gold’ ( pg 225 paragraph 2). Gold and pyrite look so similar that it is easy to be confused. When the quote said that it's the first stampede in the history caused by fool gold, it means that the “gold” people found wasn't really gold. It was pyrite/ fools gold. Since no one could tell the difference they assumed it was gold. For this reason shows how similar gold and fool gold looks like.
Although gold and fool's gold looks similar, they have differences that are hard to identify. One of the differences being that gold has softer edges than pyrite. Furthermore, if you were to rub gold or pyrite against white porcelain, gold will leave a pure yellow residue while the pyrite would leave a greenish-black powdery residue. Furthermore, pyrite has edges are sharp and angular. Mineral pyrite/ iron pyrite is an iron sulfide with the chemical FeS2 (iron II disulfide). The element of gold is Au. Their compounds show that they are different because it shows the different things they are made out of.
Overall pyrite and gold are different but they can benefit people. Although they aren't the same, pyrite makes most things cheaper and it is easier to find. There are people who have trouble noticing the difference between pyrite and gold but today there is barely anything that is pure gold because of the difficulties in finding gold. Real gold will cause you to spend a large amount of money, but fools gold will let you think that you got yourself an expensive gift. GOLD WILL MAKE A FOOL OUT OF YOU!
