What makes gold different from iron or oxygen?
The Secret Count
What makes gold different from iron or oxygen?
Gold, iron, and oxygen sit in the same world, but they couldn't be more different. One is a heavy yellow treasure. One builds bridges and rusts in the rain. One you can't even see, yet you breathe it every second. So what actually makes them different from each other? The secret is hiding in something incredibly small.
Everything around you is built from tiny pieces called atoms. They're so small that a single grain of sand holds more atoms than there are stars you could ever count. And here's the surprising part: a gold atom, an iron atom, and an oxygen atom are all made from the very same three ingredients.
