Solutions of the three metal carbene complexes of copper, silver and gold (left to right)
Some fundamental properties of the coinage metal elements gold, silver and copper, such as chemical behaviour or colours, are already predetermined in their atoms. The unique properties of gold can be largely explained by Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Chemists from Heidelberg University have been able to demonstrate this through their investigations of gold, silver and copper carbenes. They examined only single atoms of each metal in order to compare the three elements. The results of this research, led by Bernd Straub, were published in both the German and international editions of the journal "Angewandte Chemie" for applied and fundamental chemistry. The properties of chemical elements are recurring periodically, since related elements possess the same number of electrons in the relevant outer shell and differ only due to additional inner electron shells. Copper, silver and gold belong to such a group of related elements.
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