Melting One Ton of Gold in a Few Seconds: Temperature and Energy Requirements

To melt gold, you need to reach its melting point, which is approximately 1064°C (1947°F). However, if you aim to melt one ton, or about 907 kg, of gold in just a few seconds, you would require a significantly higher temperature and a rapid heat transfer method.

Key Factors:

Melting Point

Gold melts at around 1064°C. Achieving higher temperatures in a short time can be accomplished through advanced heat source technologies like:

Electric Arc Furnaces: These can reach temperatures exceeding 3000°C (5432°F) and melt metals quickly. Induction Heating: This method can provide very high temperatures rapidly. Laser or Plasma Heating: These technologies can provide concentrated heat, melting materials almost instantaneously.

Calculation of Energy

To estimate the energy required to melt one ton of gold, you can use the formula:

Q m × Lf

Where:

Q heat energy in joules m mass in kilograms Lf latent heat of fusion for gold (approximately 63.5 kJ/kg)

For one ton (907 kg) of gold:

Q 907 kg × 63.5 kJ/kg 57646.5 kJ

To melt this in a few seconds, the power in watts required would be calculated as:

P Q / t

If we assume t 5 seconds:

P 57646.5 kJ / 5 s 11529.3 kW

This indicates that you would need a power source capable of delivering over 11.5 MW to melt a ton of gold in just a few seconds.

Heat and Temperature Considerations

It depends on the environment that the gold is in. Regardless of the amount of gold you have, all of the gold will have to reach its melting point and then gain enough heat to liquidify after it reaches its melting point. This heat amount is called the enthalpy of fusion.

It's important to remember that heat and temperature are different. One gram of water at 25°C has more heat than one gram of carbon dioxide at 25°C, even though they are at the same temperature, because water has a higher specific heat than carbon dioxide. Specific heat is measured in joules per kelvin per gram, with gold having a specific heat of 0.127 J/Kg·K. One ton of gold (907184.74 grams) requires:

Heat needed to heat by one degree Kelvin: 0.127 × 907184.74 115212.462 J/K

The melting point is 1337 K. The enthalpy of fusion of gold is 0.06 J/g. A ton of solid gold at its melting point has 154039062 joules, and a ton of molten gold at its melting point is:

154039062 (0.06 × 907184.74) 154093493 J

A ton of gold at room temperature has 34333176 J (115212 × 298 34333176 J).

119760317 joules of heat is needed to melt a ton of gold at room temperature.

The temperature required to transfer this amount of heat in a few seconds is dependent on the environment and can only be found empirically by conducting the process yourself.

Conclusion

To melt one ton of gold in a few seconds, you would need to achieve temperatures well above 1064°C using high-energy methods like electric arc or induction heating with a power supply capable of delivering several megawatts of energy.