Shakespeare, in his famous play ‘Merchant of Venice’ says, “All that glitters is not gold”. This proverb serves as the cautionary advice, when it comes to investment in bullion. Therefore, any person who intends to buy gold or wants to make an investment in this precious metal he needs to be absolutely sure about its purity. Rightly so because he deserves to get full value against such heavy investment.
That’s why we should always be very critical and fully aware about the quality and purity of gold. For a common man it is difficult to assess it merely on physical appearance. It is therefore, necessary to make use of scientific device called as Gold Karat meter, to check the purity of gold at the time of purchase.
A karat meter is the device, used to measure the purity of gold. It assures very precise and non-destructive methods for testing of gold. The functioning of the Karat meter is based on the analysis of electrical conductivity or resistance of the metal, which correlates with the purity of gold. Let’s understand its functioning more scientifically.
The device setup is very simple. It is equipped with typically a small probe or pad. As we place any gold item on it, small electrical current is sent through the metal to measure how effectively the metal conducts the electricity.
The conductivity of gold may vary depending upon its purity. For example, the pure gold with 24K value has high conductivity. On the other hand, lower-karat gold has lower conductivity because of the blend of other metals like copper or silver.
How the purity is analysed? The device provides digital reading. It displays the purity of the gold in karats (K). It shows the percentage which represents the gold content. For instance, if a piece of 18K gold is placed, the purity percentage would be shown close to close to 75%. Accordingly the gold piece with more karat value would show higher percentage.
In short, the use of Karat meter for testing of gold purity guarantees accuracy and complete reliability.