What is the identity of the yellow sand panned by the prospector?
Was the sand pure gold or "fool's gold" (iron pyrite)?
a. The sand was a mixture of pure gold and iron pyrite
b. The sand was pure gold.
c. The sand was neither pure gold nor iron pyrite.
d. The sand was "fool's gold" (iron pyrite).
Final answer:
By calculating the density of the 'yellow sand', we can determine that the prospector panned 'fool's gold' (pyrite), not pure gold.
Explanation: The material can be identified by calculating its density, which is mass divided by volume. In this case, the mass of the collected sand is 165 g and its volume is 33.0 cm3. When you divide the mass by the volume, you find the density to be approximately 5 g/cm3. Given that this is the density of pyrite, and significantly less than the density of gold (19.3 g/cm3), the prospector panned 'fool's gold', or iron pyrite rather than pure gold.