Every two years, some of the best athletes across the globe gather to compete for one of the greatest honors in sports. All the athletes try to obtain a gold medal as they play their rivals on the big stage. Even if they don’t receive the gold, the two runner ups receive the silver and bronze medal. Although many athletes don't place, they go home with the experience of a lifetime. The past Olympics haven’t always given winners the three shiny metals, nor were they made out of pure gold, silver, and bronze (copper). The Olympics have been around for many centuries, but the prizes for winning athletes have evolved through the ages. In the first years of the Olympics, winners weren’t awarded medals, they were awarded a crown made of olive…show more content… For example, gold, silver, and bronze are used in jewelry, coins, and they’re also found in utensils. Gold has a boiling point of 4,892 degrees Fahrenheit and a melting point of 1,947 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing it and the rest of the metals to be malleable. In addition, silver has a melting point of 1,763 degrees Fahrenheit and a boiling point of 3,924 degrees Fahrenheit, and copper has a melting point of 1,984 degrees Fahrenheit and a boiling point of 4,644 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes them all solids when at room temperature. The gold periodic table placement is located in period 6 (horizontal row) and family 11 (vertical column), along with other metals like silver and copper. These metals are great for circulation because they have excellent wear resistance. For example, as many have seen, some medal presentations consist of bad whether. Rain, snow, and any other precipitation or wind never causes the medals to rust and breakdown because of their low chemical reaction…show more content… In fact, the last time the pure states of the medals were used was in 1912 at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. Not only do they no longer use the pure forms, but now the medals all have to be made of at 92.5% of silver. All Olympic medals are valued at different prices, and collectors would most likely pay top dollar. The medals are worth some money; the prices can range from three dollars to five hundred depending on the materials in it. Furthermore, at auctions medals tend to go for much more money compared to when they’re melted down. For example, gold has gone for as high as $50,000, while silver and bronze can range from $10,000 to $30,000 or less. Once, an Olympic medal had sold for over $300,000, “A hockey gold medal that Mark Wells earned during the “Miracle on Ice,” the 1980 battle in Lake Placid, N.Y., sold for $310,700.”
