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72
Mostly True New Orleans

The website discusses how gold remains untarnished due to the rearrangement of surface atoms, which hinders oxidation. It highlights the role of atomic geometry in preventing oxidation and the instability of gold oxide.

The claims regarding gold's resistance to oxidation due to atomic rearrangement are well-supported by multiple sources, including scientific publications and reputable articles. The evidence indicates that gold's surface atoms rearrange to hinder oxidation, preventing tarnish. This rearrangement significantly slows down the oxidation process, making gold highly resistant to corrosion. However, the specific claim about the square arrangement being better at splitting oxygen than the hexagonal one lacks direct evidence, resulting in a lower score for that claim. Overall, the claims are largely corroborated by scientific findings, leading to a high overall score.

May 23, 2026 Language: en 5 claims analyzed

Individual Claims

82
True Physics
Atoms on the surface of gold rearrange into a geometry that hinders oxidation.
The claim is supported by multiple sources, including a publication in Physical Review Letters, which states that gold's surface atoms rearrange to suppress oxygen reactions significantly. This is corroborated by other sources explaining gold's resistance to tarnish due to atomic rearrangement.
Fact Check Score None
Fact Check Weight 0
Web Consensus Score 90
Web Consensus Weight 50
Source Quality Score 90
Source Quality Weight 25
Llm Reasoning Score 85
Llm Reasoning Weight 25
Weighted Total 82
Evidence Summary 2 web sources corroborate the claim, including a publication in Physical Review Letters.
78
Mostly True Physics
Without rearrangement, gold would begin to oxidize in seconds.
The claim is supported by evidence from a Science News article, which explains that gold's resistance to oxidation is due to surface atom rearrangements. Without this rearrangement, gold would oxidize much faster, as indicated by the research findings.
Fact Check Score None
Fact Check Weight 0
Web Consensus Score 85
Web Consensus Weight 50
Source Quality Score 85
Source Quality Weight 25
Llm Reasoning Score 80
Llm Reasoning Weight 25
Weighted Total 78
Evidence Summary 1 web source corroborates the claim, explaining the role of atomic rearrangement in preventing rapid oxidation.
29
Mostly False Physics
The square arrangement of gold atoms is better at splitting oxygen than the hexagonal one.
No direct evidence was found to support the specific claim about the square arrangement being better at splitting oxygen than the hexagonal one. The available evidence discusses gold's atomic arrangements but does not specifically compare these two geometries in terms of oxygen splitting.
Fact Check Score None
Fact Check Weight 0
Web Consensus Score None
Web Consensus Weight 50
Source Quality Score 50
Source Quality Weight 25
Llm Reasoning Score 40
Llm Reasoning Weight 25
Weighted Total 29
Evidence Summary No direct evidence found to support the specific claim about square vs. hexagonal arrangements.
82
True Physics
Gold oxide is unstable and would likely form only a thin layer of oxide.
The claim is supported by multiple sources, including a Springer Nature article and Wikipedia, which describe gold oxide as unstable and prone to forming only thin layers due to its chemical properties.
Fact Check Score None
Fact Check Weight 0
Web Consensus Score 90
Web Consensus Weight 50
Source Quality Score 90
Source Quality Weight 25
Llm Reasoning Score 85
Llm Reasoning Weight 25
Weighted Total 82
Evidence Summary 2 web sources corroborate the claim, describing gold oxide's instability.
88
True Physics
Reconstructed gold oxidizes a billion to a trillion times slower.
The claim is strongly supported by multiple sources, including a Science News article and Scientific American, which report that reconstructed gold oxidizes significantly slower due to atomic rearrangement.
Fact Check Score None
Fact Check Weight 0
Web Consensus Score 95
Web Consensus Weight 50
Source Quality Score 95
Source Quality Weight 25
Llm Reasoning Score 90
Llm Reasoning Weight 25
Weighted Total 88
Evidence Summary 2 web sources corroborate the claim, explaining the dramatic reduction in oxidation rate.

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