Gold's nucleus.

[Kermit]

In John Emsley's "Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide To The Elements," a book i've read over and over, i've noticed this paragraph:

 

"The reason for gold's imperviousness to oxidation and corrosion lies in the remarkable grip it has over its outermoust electron, the one that is available for chemical bonding. It does this by virture of the large positive charge of the gold nucleus (+79) which exerts a gravitational effect on its electrons, causing them to move at a speed approaching the speed of light. This increases their mass, making them move closer to the nucleus."

 

Is the gold nucleus the only one that has this property, or are there others?

[ydoaPs]

It does this by virture of the large positive charge of the gold nucleus (+79) which exerts a gravitational effect on its electrons

...nice...

[swansont]

The gravity the nucleus exerts on electrons is negligible.

 

According to this review, So why does this book get an eight instead of a nine or ten? Unfortunately, Emsley is a lot better at talking about the elements' history, usage, etc. than he is about their chemistry...

 

...This sort of careless error is common enough to be seriously annoying (and possibly deceiving to the chemistry beginner)"

 

The mention of gravity would seem to be one of those annoying careless errors.

[ydoaPs]

i think the gravity was supposed to be electric force because he mentioned charge