Industrially, the most crucial use of gold is within the manufacturing of electronics, as gold is a highly efficient conductor of electricity. Electronic components consisting of gold are extremely reliable. Gold is used in the manufacturing of connecting wires, relay contacts, switch contacts, connectors, connection strips, and soldered joints. Within a majority of sophisticated devices, small amounts of gold are implemented in the functional design. Televisions, cell phones, GPS, personal digital assistants, and calculators all contain gold.
Gold is present in both the standard laptop and desktop computer. Gold is key because the accurate and speedy transmission of digitized data travelling from one component to another needs both a reliable and efficient conductor. Although this tends to be more expensive to produce, the significance of reliability and high quality justify this expenditure.
found within a computer that consist of gold is edge connectors. These are used to mount memory chips, microprocessors, and the motherboard. Another hardware device is the plug-and-socket connectors which are used to connect cables. Golden components are usually electroplated onto various other types of metal. Often the gold is alloyed with other metals such as cobalt or nickel to make the device more durable.
Every space vehicle that NASA launches contains gold as it does not require maintenance like other metals that corrode over time. Gold is used within the circuitry system due to its dependable nature as a conductor as well as a connector. Several devices that make up the spacecraft are coated with a golden polyester film that reflects infrared radiation as well as aids in the stabilization of the overall temperature of the spacecraft. Without this film, the darker colored sections of the spacecraft would overheat, causing malfunction. Furthermore, between the mechanical sections of the spacecraft, gold is used as a lubricant. Organic lubricants would be broken apart due to the massive radiation that extends past the atmosphere of Earth. The shear strength of gold is very low and thin films of gold between crucial parts in motion acts as a lubricant. The molecules of gold slide past each other under the laws of friction giving it lubricating properties.