The most trustworthy method to test if something is gold plated or solid gold is to have an acid test done it. For the acid test, take a small piece of jewelry, or using a small needle scratch a tiny part in your gold, take a dropper given in the acid kit, fill it with acid.
If it's real gold it will not stick to the magnet. (Fun fact: Real gold is not magnetic.) Fake gold, on the other hand, will stick to the magnet.
Magnet test is the easiest way to check the purity of gold at home and the method is inexpensive too. Gold is a non-reactive and non-magnetic metal, whereas most other metals have magnetic properties. Therefore, if you put real gold near a magnet you will notice no change in it.
If your gold piece turns black or green when the vinegar is on it, or if it starts to smoke or fizzle at all when the vinegar touches it, it is most likely not real gold. If your gold piece does not change colors and does not fizzle or react to the vinegar in any way, it is probably real.
A: When you clean jewelry with vinegar, you can submerge your gold jewelry in the vinegar solution for up to 20 minutes, but it's best not to go beyond that point. It is important to note that vinegar is an acid and can react with certain metals, causing discoloration or even damage to the metal.
Acid test.
An acid test can reveal the karat of solid gold jewelry, but it can also show whether jewelry is solid gold or gold-plated. With an acid test, a small sample of the jewelry is removed and exposed to acid to induce a color change. The resulting colors indicate which type of metal the jewelry is made of.
Test Gold Using the Float Test
Take a cup or glass, fill it up with water, now bring the gold that you want to test. Drop it into this filled glass. If the gold floats, it is surely not real but if the gold sinks to the end of the glass then it is pure gold. The real gold will sink due to being a heavy metal.
The Float Test
Place your gold piece into the water. If it's genuine gold, then it will immediately sink to the bottom of the cup. Pure gold is heavy due to its high density – 19.32 g/ ml. If your gold item floats or hovers above the cup's bottom – it's fake or plated gold.
In their pure, natural forms, gold, silver, aluminum, copper, brass, and lead are not magnetic. This is because they are all weak metals. Adding iron or steel to these metals can make them stronger and magnetic. Gold is often used in coins, jewelry, electronics, dentistry, aerospace, and awards.
Fool's Gold can be one of three minerals. The most common mineral mistaken for gold is pyrite. Chalcopyrite may also appear gold-like, and weathered mica can mimic gold as well.
The apple cider vinegar gold test is a great choice if you want to test your jewelry at home, as it is readily available and easy to do. After all, real gold will not react when exposed to the acids in vinegar, toothpaste and more.
Drop a small amount of liquid nitric acid on that scratch and wait for a chemical reaction. Fake gold will immediately turn green where the acid is. Gold-over-sterling silver will become milky in appearance.
In a nitric acid test, a jeweler places a few drops of the acid on the piece and watches the reaction. With copper, the reaction usually causes the liquid to turn green, give off fumes, and sometimes bubble. This response is known as a hard cupric reaction and indicates that your piece is not real gold.
Goldmeter - real gold detector on the App Store.
Check if your gold is real by performing the magnet test. Real gold will not attract a magnet. To test if 18k gold is real, hold it next to a magnet. If the magnet sticks to your jewelry, then it does not have a high percentage of gold but is made up of other, more magnetic metals.
Finally, we suggest both for silver and gold plated items, not to use abrasive substances such as lemon, vinegar, salt, parmesan, cola, because they tend to corrode the surfaces.