Nugget is ...? Meaning of the word. The biggest nuggets

A nugget is a word associated with purity and naturalness. What does it mean? What nuggets exist?

Nugget is ...?

There are two meanings for this term. The first value is literal. It refers to minerals. Thus, a nugget denotes an integral piece, grain, substances that are formed in nature in pure form. There are no admixtures of other elements in it.

The term is associated with naturalness, natural forms and purity. Its meaning has been transformed over time, and can now be used in a figurative sense in the characterization of a person. In this case, a nugget is a person who has a natural gift, talent or skill, without having the appropriate education.

Often it is associated with genius, although the word nugget is used in a broader sense. It refers to a person who is able to perform a certain activity well, without special preparation. That is, it means talent, not its superlative degree.

Minerals

In the Middle Ages nuggets were called any metals and gem stones that stood out among grains of sand or ore. At present, a nugget is more often a metal, less often a stone or other elements.

They differ in wholeness, unique, unique form. In chemistry, nuggets are combined into one crystallochemical classification. They are formed under certain natural conditions. They are mainly found in sedimentary rocks.

Most elements in nature are in the form of compounds or ores. In the native state, only about 45 occur, most of them rare. Mercury, zinc, chromium, cadmium, tin, indium is difficult to meet in pure form, as a rule, they form in the composition of ores. Iron in its pure form is extremely rare, usually its nuggets are present in meteorites. Among non-metals in the native state, sulfur and carbon can be found.

In nature, pure carbon is diamond and graphite. Among the semimetals found arsenic, tellurium, antimony. Elements, which usually exist without impurities, are called noble or inert. These include noble gases, gold, platinum, ruthenium, osmium, palladium, and silver.

Large nuggets

At all times, the nuggets were hunted to get rich. Who did not want to find a large diamond or a piece of gold, which would immediately solve a lot of financial problems? In history, more than a dozen truly large nuggets are known. The finds were usually assigned to mysterious or exotic names, for example, "Desired," "Cullinan," and so on.

The largest silver nugget was discovered in 1447 in Schneberg. His weight was twenty tons. The owner of the find of the Duke of Saxony Albrecht ordered to make a table out of it. The huge weight prevented the transportation, so he was left in the mine, on the spot of detection.

The largest gold nugget is the Holterman Plate. He was discovered in Australia in 1872. Pure gold was as if soldered into a quartz plate. Its weight was about 100 kilograms, and the length reached 140 centimeters.