20 Facts About the Chemical Element Silver

20 Facts About the Chemical Element Silver Silver is a precious metal that has been known since ancient time. This is a list of interesting facts about the element silver. 1. The word silver comes from the  Anglo-Saxon word  seolfor.  There is no word that rhymes with the English word silver. It is a transition metal element, with symbol Ag, atomic number 47, and atomic weight of 107.8682. 2. Silver is exceptionally shiny! It is the most reflective element, which makes it useful in mirrors, telescopes, microscopes and solar cells. Polished silver reflects 95% of the visible light spectrum. However, silver is a poor reflector of ultraviolet light. Stocktrek Images/Getty Images 3. Silver can exist in its native state. In other words, nuggets or crystals of pure silver exist in nature. Silver also occurs as a natural alloy with gold that is called electrum. Silver commonly occurs in copper, lead, and zinc ores. 4. Silver metal is not toxic to humans. In fact, it can be used as a food decoration. However, most silver salts are toxic. Silver is germicidal, meaning it kills bacteria and other lower organisms. 5. Silver is the best electric conductor of the elements. It is used as the standard by which other conductors are measured. On a scale of  0 to 100, silver ranks 100 in terms of electrical conductivity. Copper ranks 97 and gold ranks 76. 6. Silver has been known since antiquity. It was one of the first five metals to be discovered. Mankind learned to separate silver from lead back in 3000 BC. Silver  objects have been found dating back before 4000 BC. It is believed the element was discovered around 5000 BC. Early Saxon coins, 5th-6th century. Silver pennies known as sceattas, found in excavations in London area.   Heritage Spanish/Getty Images 7. Only gold is more ductile than silver. An ounce of silver can be drawn into a wire 8,000 feet long. 8. The most commonly encountered form of silver is sterling silver. Sterling silver consists of 92.5% silver, with the balance consists of other metals, usually copper. 9. The chemical symbol for silver, Ag, comes from the  Latin word for silver, argentum, which in turn derives from the Sanskit word  argunas, which mean shining. 10. A single grain of silver (~65 mg) can be pressed into a sheet 150 times thinner than the average sheet of paper. 11. Silver is the best thermal conductor of any metal. The lines you see in the rear window of a car consist of silver, used to defrost ice in the winter. 12. The words for silver and money are the same in fourteen languages or more. 13. The primary source of silver today is the New World. Mexico is the leading producer, followed by Peru. The United States, Canada, Russia, and Australia also produce silver.  Around two-thirds of the silver obtained today is a by-product of copper, lead, and zinc mining. Silver mines in Mexico, such as this now-abandoned one, provided Spain, in the 18th century, with over one third of the silver sent out of the New World.   Danny Lehman/Getty Images 14. Coins minted in the United States prior to 1965 consists of about 90% silver. Kennedy half dollars  minted in the United States  between 1965 to 1969 contained 40% silver.   15. The compound silver iodide has been used for cloud seeding, to cause clouds to produce rain and try to control hurricanes. 16. The price of silver presently is less than that of gold, varying according to demand, discovery of sources and the invention of methods of separating the metal from other elements. In ancient Egypt and Medieval European countries, silver was valued more highly than gold. 17. Some silver compounds are highly explosive. Examples include silver fulminate, silver azide, silver(II) oxide, silver amide, silver acetylide, and silver oxalate. These are compounds in which silver forms a bond with nitrogen or oxygen. Although heat, drying, or pressure often ignite these compounds, sometimes all it takes is exposure to light. They may even explode spontaneously. 18. Silvers atomic number is 47, with an atomic weight of 107.8682. 19. Silver is stable in oxygen and water, but it  tarnishes in air because of a reaction with sulfur compounds to form a black sulfide layer. 20. Uses of silver metal include currency, silverware, jewelry, and dentistry. Its antimicrobial properties make it useful for air conditioning and water filtration. It is used to make mirror coatings, for solar energy applications, in electronics, and for photography. Sources Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 0-08-037941-9.Hammond, C. R. (2004). The Elements, in Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (81st ed.). CRC press. ISBN 978-0-8493-0485-9.Weast, Robert (1984). CRC, Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Boca Raton, Florida: Chemical Rubber Company Publishing. pp. E110. ISBN 0-8493-0464-4.