The chemical element with the symbol Au in the modern periodic table is gold.
Au comes from the Latin word aurum, meaning “gold” or “glowing dawn,” rather than from the English name. Gold has atomic number 79, placing it among the transition metals. It is a dense, soft and highly malleable metal with a distinctive yellow colour.
Gold resists corrosion and tarnishing because it is chemically relatively unreactive. Those properties helped make it valuable for jewellery, decoration, coinage and scientific equipment. Gold is also used in electronics because it conducts electricity and forms reliable connections.
The symbol Au is easy to confuse with the symbol Ag, which belongs to silver. Silver’s symbol comes from the Latin argentum. Copper uses Cu, from cuprum, while aluminium uses Al. Gold’s chemical symbol therefore reflects its Latin name, not the first letters of “gold.”