History
Silver had been around since ancient
times. Slag dumps in Asia Minor and on islands in the Aegean Sea indicate that a man learned to separate silver from lead
as early as 3,000 B.C..
Sources
Silver occurs natively and in ores such
as argentite, lead, lead-zinc, copper, gold, and copper-nickle ores are principal sources.
Production
Silver is also recovered during electrolytic
refining of copper. Commerciel fine silver contains at least 99.9% silver. Purities of 99.999+% are available commercially.
Properties
Pure silver has a brilliant white metallic luster.
It is a little harder than gold and is very ductile and malleable, being exceeded only by gold and perhaps palladium.
Pure silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals, and possesses the lowest contact resistance.
It it stable in pure air and water, but tarnishes when exposed to ozone, hydrogen sulfide, or air containing sulfur. The alloys
of silver of silver are imporant.
Uses
Sterling silver is used for jewelry, silverware, etc.
where appearance is paramount. This alloy contains 92.5% silver, the remainder being copper or some other matel. Silver is
of the utmost importance in photography, about 30% of the U.S. industrial consumption going into this application. It is used
for dental alloys. Silver is used in making solder and brazing alloys, electrical contacts, and high capacity silver-zinc
and silver cadmium batteries.
Handling
Silver it self is not considered to be toxic, most of
its salts are poisonous. Exposure to silver (metal and soluble sompounds, as Ag) in air should not exceed 0.01 mg/m^3, (8-hour
time-weighted average - 40 hour week). Silver compounds can be absorbed in the circulatory system and reduced silver deposited
in the various tissues of the body. Silver has germicidal effects and kills many lower arganisms effectively without harm
to higher animals.
Cost
When people first started selling Silver it was in 1939 and the
price of silver at the time was 71 Cents. But since the cost has chaged over the years and the last time we have checked how
much silver cost was in 1990 and the price of silver was bout $5.25.
![[Bohr Model of Silver]](http://www.chemicalelements.com/bohr/b0047.gif) |
|
Number of Energy Levels: 5
First Energy Level: 2
Second Energy Level: 8
Third
Energy Level: 18
Fourth Energy Level: 18
Fifth Energy Level: 1
|
| Isotope |
Half Life |
| Ag-105 |
41.3 days |
| Ag-105m |
7.2 minutes |
| Ag-106m |
8.4 days |
| Ag-107 |
Stable |
| Ag-108 |
2.4 minutes |
| Ag-108m |
130.0 years |
| Ag-109 |
Stable |
| Ag-109m |
39.8 seconds |
| Ag-110 |
24.6 seconds |
| Ag-110m |
249.8 days |
| Ag-111 |
7.47 days |
Date of Discovery: Known to the ancients
Discoverer: Unknown
Name Origin: From the Old English word seolfor (silver)
Symbol Origin: From
the Latin word argentum (silver)
Uses: jewelry, photography, electrical conductor
Obtained
From: ores (argentite, light ruby silver, dark ruby silver, brittle
