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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;desertgem, post: 761932, member: 15199&quot;]In relation to gold toning. The color of gold is determined by relativistic effects. Metals such as silver absorb and reflect photons of color energy due to an &quot;electron sea&quot; on their surface. Gold would also be a silver color except for this relativistic effect. Gold absorbs a &quot;blue&quot; energy photon and reflects the &quot;redder&quot; energy photon as an internal electron moves from the 5d to 6s orbit. Gold atom shifts the frequency enough to put the photon in the visible color range while a silver atom does not. This color of gold can vary as any surrounding atoms of non-gold alters their composition through oxidation. Gold itself does NOT form a stable oxide below thousands of atmospheres of pressure oxygen, so any color change of gold occurs because of the internal energy relationships of the atomic shells of the atom. </p><p><br /></p><p>There are quantum aspects as to velocity of electrons in more electropositive nuclei such as gold ( color ) compared to silver ( basically colorless), but the better physicists can probably work through that. Copper also has a color due to similar reasons, but it can readily oxidize, producing surface color changes.</p><p><br /></p><p>So I am not sure if &quot;Toning&quot; is the proper word to use for the color change in gold.</p><p><br /></p><p>Jim[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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