1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:12,640 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Bobebam. Here, Martin Frobisher thought he'd hit 3 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: the jackpot. The year fifteen seventy six found this English 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: explorer and legal pirate. He was sanctioned by the crown 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: to plunder enemy treasure ships seeking the Northwest Passage, the 6 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: undiscovered Arctic sea route that links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 7 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:33,239 Speaker 1: He found something else instead, Labrador, Canada and what's now 8 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:37,520 Speaker 1: Frobisher Bay. But weeks later he sailed west and reached 9 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: icy Baffin Island, where he gathered a mineral sample that 10 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: seemed to be flaked with gold. But it wasn't well, 11 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: not according to the royalist sayer, who identified the shiny 12 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:52,480 Speaker 1: bits as pye rite, also known as fool's gold. Undeterred, 13 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: Queen Elizabeth's merchants sent Frobisher back to Baffin, where he 14 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: gathered and shipped fourteen hundred tons of ore, most of 15 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: it was worthless. In a few tested samples, the gold 16 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 1: content was only five to fourteen parts per billion. Though 17 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: he longed to abandon Baffin and go exploring again, Frobisher 18 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: spent years fruitlessly hunting Arctic treasure. And it was all 19 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: because of that, Pie, write. Captain Christopher Newport could likely sympathize. 20 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: As the leader of Jamestown, England's first permanent settlement in 21 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: North America, he was constantly getting tricked by new world 22 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,680 Speaker 1: gold that turned out to be you guessed at Pie, write. 23 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,679 Speaker 1: So let's say you're a prospector, or maybe just a 24 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:40,199 Speaker 1: bright eyed field geologist. How do you avoid Pye, writes, trickery. 25 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: Before we get into that, it might be a good 26 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 1: idea to explain what pyrite actually is in the first place. 27 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: Real gold is a chemical element, a substance that no 28 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: ordinary chemical process like electrolysis or heating can break down. 29 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: If you've got a classroom periodic table handy, look for 30 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: gold between platinum and mercury. Gold's chemical symbol is au, 31 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: derived from that element's Latin language name aurum. A fun 32 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: way to remember this is to say to yourself, hey, 33 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: you give me back my gold. But pyrite is different. 34 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:17,240 Speaker 1: Unlike gold, It's a compound made up of two different elements, 35 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: iron and sulfur, and that's why it's sometimes referred to 36 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: by the name iron sulfide. Scientists write out pyrites chemical 37 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 1: formula as F E S two. You see iron and 38 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: Sulfur's chemical symbols are FE and S, respectively, and each 39 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: pyrite molecule contains one iron atom along with two sulfur atoms. 40 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: And telling golden pyrite apart. Really isn't that difficult If 41 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: you know what you're doing. Ever watch the Olympics, then 42 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: you'll probably know those world class athletes love to bite 43 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: their gold medals in front of the cameras. Seriously. It 44 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: happens a lot, and the practice comes from the old 45 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: belief that one can bite gold coins to see if 46 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 1: their counterfeit. Most supposedly, nibbling on any coin with the 47 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: high enough gold content will leave bite marks behind. The 48 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:06,359 Speaker 1: truth is a little more complicated, but the custom does 49 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,839 Speaker 1: have a basis. In fact. On the Most scale, which 50 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:12,679 Speaker 1: rates the hardness of gems and minerals, gold has a 51 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: ranking of just two point five to three as elements go. 52 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: It's rather soft, so a gold nugget can easily be 53 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: scratched with a pocket knife. Pyrite has the advantage here. 54 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: It's a bit harder, coming in at a six to 55 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: six point five on the most scale. Forget knives. You 56 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: need a high quality metal file to scratch this stuff. 57 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: Steel hammers are another tool that can give the game away. 58 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 1: Hit some pyrite with one of these beauties and it'll 59 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: send sparks flying. If you're persistent enough, the pirate will 60 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:45,119 Speaker 1: shatter and eventually get reduced to a powder. And none 61 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: of that will happen when you strike gold with a hammer. 62 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: No sparks, no powder. Instead, you might just end up 63 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: expanding or flattening the sample. Not only as gold soft, 64 00:03:56,200 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: it's malleable to boot. Visually, both materials are yellowish, but 65 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: gold is less brassy in hue. It also does not 66 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: form cube shaped crystals as pyrite often does. On the contrary, 67 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: most of the gold encountered in the field takes the 68 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: form of either flakes or lumpy nuggets. Gold will also 69 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: leave a yellow streak behind if it's rubbed against a 70 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,160 Speaker 1: bit of porcelain or white ceramic tile, and repeat the 71 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:23,480 Speaker 1: same experiment with pyrite, and it will leave a darker 72 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:28,600 Speaker 1: greenish black line. If you're still in doubt, the nose nose. 73 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: Although gold is pretty much odorless, pyrite has a faint smell, 74 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:37,239 Speaker 1: and it smells like rotten eggs. Again, it's loaded with sulfur. 75 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,920 Speaker 1: But where things can get confusing is golden pyrites sometimes 76 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: turn up in the same deposits. Remember Frobisher's or did 77 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:50,599 Speaker 1: contain some genuine gold, albeit a teeny tiny amount. If 78 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,719 Speaker 1: real gold keeps eluding, you, don't despair. Fool's gold is 79 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: not completely useless. Like we already mentioned. It can be 80 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: used to produce sparks and or by start fires that 81 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:06,839 Speaker 1: made Pye write a valuable commodity in ancient and prehistoric societies. Indeed, 82 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: the word pye write itself came from a Greek term 83 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: for firestone, and the future may bring a new appreciation 84 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: for iron sulfide. In Scientists at the University of Minnesota 85 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,479 Speaker 1: used electric voltage and an ionic solution to successfully turn 86 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: pyrite into a magnetic material. This breakthrough could lead to 87 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: low cost sulfur based solar cells down the road, giving 88 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: Fool's gold of bright future in the green energy industry. 89 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Mark Mancini and produced by 90 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:43,920 Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other 91 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: bright topics, visit how Stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff 92 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: is production of by Heart Radio or more podcasts My 93 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: Heart Radio visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or 94 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.