Period 6 element also dissolves in alkaline solutions of cyanide, which have been used in mining. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys. Gold is insoluble in nitric acid, which dissolves silver and base metals, a property that has long been used to confirm the presence of gold in items, giving rise to the term "the acid test." Gold has been a valuable and highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since long before the beginning of recorded history. Gold standards have been a common basis for monetary policies throughout human history, later being supplanted by fiat currency starting in
Acid–base reaction the Brønsted-Lowry model, the solvent does not necessarily have to be water that is required by the Arrhenius Acid-Base model. For example, consider what happens when acetic acid, CHCOOH, dissolves in liquid ammonia. An H ion is removed from acetic acid, forming its conjugate base, the acetate ion, CHCOO. The addition of an H ion to an ammonia molecule of the solvent creates its conjugate acid, the ammonium ion, . The Brønsted–Lowry model calls hydrogen-containing substances (like HCl) acids. Thus, some substances, which many chemists considered to be acids, such as SO or BCl, are excluded from this classification due