How do you determine if something is real gold? ?

Question

Is there some sort of test I can do at home to determine the difference between "real gold" vs being "gold plated"?

Answer 1

Gold is not magnetic.

If some nonmagnetic metal is plated with gold, it looks like gold, but will not have the density of gold.  Density can be checked by weighing it, and measuring how much water it displaces.  Pure 24K gold has a density of 19.3 gr / cc.  

If the item is made of  or plated with an alloy of gold, the number will be less than 24K.  This will also throw off the density calculations.  Your best bet is to take it to a jeweler and have it appraised.  There are electronic instruments that will determine the K rating of a piece of jewelry.

Grandpa

Answer 2

Density.

Answer 3

water displacement

you need a very accurate way to measure but any thing you would plate with gold would not be as dense as gold so the amount of water it would displace for the same weight would be different. you would need a bench mark of 24 caret gold to create a baseline. then compare weight and water displacement if the ratios are the same the sample is gold