Gold in Aqua Regia - part of our "Berzelius Day" uploading 24 videos in 24 hours. Full video containing this reaction at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwnKU89CCdI NOTE FROM THE PROFESSOR: Aqua Regia is a really complicated mixture. The key point is that together HCl and HNO3 are more effective oxidizing agents than they are individually because they react together to form a variety of ions. These can then react with the gold, enabling it to lose electrons to form bonds with chlorine. The result is a solution a mixture of ions with different ratios of Au to Cl atoms. I still find the dissolving of gold a magical reaction to watch. See our 24 reactions playlist as it unfolds at: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6E4F35510525FFF7 Berzelius Day explained: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDXUDq2KLM4 More chemistry at http://www.periodicvideos.com/ Follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/periodicvideos And on Twitter at http://twitter.com/periodicvideos From the School of Chemistry at The University of Nottingham: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/chemistry/index.aspx Periodic Videos films are by video journalist Brady Haran http://www.bradyharan.com/