Rolun McKinnon, age 12, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for his question:

WHAT IS WHITE GOLD?

An alloy is a mixture of two or more metals, or of a metal and some other material.

Gold, for example, is often alloyed with other metals such as copper and silver to make many kinds of jewelry.

White gold is made from gold alloyed with other metals such as platinum, palladium or silver. White gold is often used to make the settings for precious stones in rings.

Gold must be combined with other metals in order to be used in jewelry. The result of this process is called an alloy. Pure gold is 24 carat ‑‑ with a carat being equal to 1/24 part. Eighteen‑carat gold is 18 parts pure gold to six parts alloy. This scale is used both for white gold and yellow gold.