What would happen to the individual atoms if you were to hammer gold into a thin sheet?

When gold is hammered into a thin sheet, the individual atoms are displaced and rearranged without breaking the metallic bonds that hold them together. The force from the hammering compresses the atoms closer together and allows them to slide past one another, resulting in a change in shape while maintaining the material's overall integrity. This process, known as plastic deformation, allows gold to be worked into very thin sheets, such as gold leaf, without losing its metallic properties.