How to Determine the Particle Size of Colloidal Gold

The value of gold has been recognized for thousands of years, not just as a form of currency but also as a medicinal agent. It is believed that ingesting gold can help stabilize one's mood, improve cognitive and neurological functions, relieve the pain of rheumatoid arthritis and combat certain types of tumors. Medicinal gold is taken in colloidal form, which means that the gold is broken down into nanoparticles (a single human hair is approximately 60,000 nanometers in diameter) and mixed with a liquid -- usually water. There are a few different ways to measure the size of the gold particles. One method is called dynamic light scattering (DLS).

Things You'll Need

• Colloidal gold sample
• Dynamic light scattering machine

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Instructions

• 1

  Clean the sample container on the machine.

• 2

  Prepare the sample of colloidal gold to be measured according to the DLS machine's test instructions.

• 3

  Place the sample into the machine and turn on the power.

• 4

  Press the start button to begin the DLS process. The machine works by shining a laser at the sample container and measuring the amount of refraction that occurs when the laser interacts with the particles in the sample. This information is used to calculate the size of the particles.

• 5

  Print or otherwise record the results when the machine displays the size of the particles in the sample.