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Are there yellow metals besides gold? Are there metals with color different than yellow and grey/silver or reddish?

Mithoron
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Anixx
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  • this is not an answer but it is related and might be of interest http://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/16633/why-is-gold-golden – bon Jan 28 '15 at 16:02

4 Answers4

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Osmium has a bluish-gray tint.
Well; slightly.
Cesium is silvery-golden!,
But don't wear it.

HyperLuminal
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There is no element other than gold and copper with similar colors; see http://periodictable.com/Properties/A/Color.html.

There are many metal alloys that are red and golden, such as phosphor bronze, which can have a golden hue.

In addition, some metallic compounds may be shiny yellow. Freshly sliced potassium is silvery, but soon acquires an oxide/nitride coat that may look yellow (perhaps due to interference of light?). Of course, "fool's gold", FeS2, was often confused with the element. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrite and Image of pyrite crystal.

DrMoishe Pippik
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    Titanium nitride (TiN) is a beautiful gold color. It is also nice and hard, so is used quite often for coatings, including on things like plumbing fixtures. So, that lovely gold faucet in the store is likely TiN, not Au. – Jon Custer Jan 28 '15 at 19:39
  • @Jon Custer it is ceramic, not even an alloy. – Anixx Jan 28 '15 at 22:45
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    @Anixx - yet TiN is metallic, having excellent conductivity mediated by electrons (as do many transition metal nitrides). So, I'll still claim it to be a metallic compound. – Jon Custer Jan 28 '15 at 23:35
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    Phosphor bronze basically consists of copper. What about yellow alloys that do not include copper or gold? – Anixx Mar 25 '15 at 19:44
  • Whoa! What about cesium?! – HyperLuminal Jun 18 '15 at 15:53
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    Cs is "silver" colored; see http://periodictable.com/Properties/A/Color.html. In air, Cs and other alkali metals may form a surface nitride layer that is yellowish, but look at a freshly cut surface and it's not. Similarly, Ti is silvery, but the nitride deposited on tools is golden. – DrMoishe Pippik Jun 19 '15 at 15:13
  • @DrMoishePippik Nope. Liquid cesium under an inert atmosphere is clearly fairly golden coloured. – matt_black Oct 18 '20 at 20:56
  • Did you mean metal? There are certainly elements that are not grey (e.g. bromine). – Sticklink Mar 24 '23 at 17:29
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The color of nanoparticles in solution depends on size, so one can create the whole rainbow of colors using a single elemental composition.

See e.g. http://nanocomposix.com/pages/plasmonics for details.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloidal_gold shows gold being red and purple.

Jeff Hammond
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Strontium seems to be golden too, if of high purity. Look under "Eigenschaften". Beside that, also caesium seems to be of golden color.

peterh
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carypt
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