Two gold rings

To start out my experiment I've ordered two gold 14k rings from Amazon. For those who don't already know, gold jewelry is often marked with a number proceeded by a “k”. This k stands for Karat or Carat, depending upon where you’re from. A Karat is a measure of the purity of a precious metal in an alloy. Gold is a soft and expensive metal so it is frequently mixed with a stronger metal, such as nickel, to create a stronger, less expensive mix. The mix of two or more metals together is known as an alloy.


The 14k rings that I've ordered are 58.5% gold. To validate the Karat rating of the rings I've also ordered a gold test kit from Amazon.