answersLogoWhite

0

Real gold is extremely soft and malleable; therefore, real gold could be dented with little pressure. Fools gold (Iron Pyrite) is much harder, and therefore harder to dent. A practical method is to get the material wet, and hold it up in the sun. Gold and fools gold will both shine. Now put your hand between the material and the sun. The gold will still shine, but the fools gold will become quite dark. This is because the shine of gold comes from diffuse reflection (like light shining on paper), while fools gold's comes from specular reflection (like a mirror).

User Avatar

Wiki User

17y ago

What else can I help you with?