The Science of Medal in Olympic Games

The Science of Medal in Olympic Games

A question always comes into mind that " Why are the medals Gold, Silver and Bronze ?" The answer can be found in the science.

Our galaxy was found by an exploding star and, elements of the solar system and planet formed inside that star.  Lighter elements are in greater abundance than heavier.

In chemistry the elements were arranged on periodic table in such a way that lighter elements remained toward the top and heavier at the bottom.

Thus  while observing the periodic table we can notice that lighter elements are more abundant on top whereas rarer are towards the bottom.

The three Olympic medal metals are located in same column of periodic table and share many characteristics making them good for creating medals.

Courtesy:pinterst.com

Bronze medal made up of mostly copper which is at the top of the column, and is least rare so third place. Bronze medal contains 97% Copper, 2.5% Zinc and 0.5% Tin.

Silver medal made up of mostly Silver that is one level down and rarer than Copper hence second place. Silver medal contains 92.5% Silver and 7.5% Copper.

Gold is one step below silver, so it is the rarest and gets first place. Gold medal is not all Gold. Gold medal contains 1% Gold, 92.5% Silver and 6.5% Copper.

Out of 2,448 medals produced for Rio Olympics 2016,  812 is Gold, 812 is Silver and 864 Bronze. All the medals are 85 mm in diameter and weigh 500 grammes - heaviest in the history of Summer Olympics.The medals were manufactured in Mint of Brazil.