Silver is what type of metal

A lustrous, soft white metal, silver is one of the elements that make up the Earth. Silver is found in nature as an elemental metal in its metallic form and combined with other elements such as sulfide, chloride and nitrate. Pure silver has a bright metallic white-gray color; silver nitrate and silver chloride are powdery white in color, while silver sulfide and silver oxide are dark gray to black.

Silver is stable in pure air and water, though it tarnishes quickly when exposed to air that contains elevated levels of ozone, hydrogen sulfide or sulfur.

In the past years, the amount of sulfur in the atmosphere has increased, so silver tarnishes more quickly than it did in pre-Industrial times. Tarnish can easily be removed, however, and does not destroy the metal the way oxidation process known as rust destroys iron. The fact that silver is otherwise impervious to the elements helps define it as a precious metal. Silver is a rare metal that has long been valued for its versatility.

Slag dumps in Asia Minor and the Aegean Sea islands show that our ancestors were mining silver over 5, years ago. Concentrated deposits of silver are found in ores along with other metals including lead, zinc, copper and gold in diverse regions of the world including Mexico, Peru, and the United States. The natural process of rain and wind pounding repeatedly on silver-bearing rocks and soil also disperses silver into the environment.

Natural processes account for about 18 percent of the estimated 2, tons of silver entering the environment each year. The remaining 82 percent is released through human industry; almost half of that amount is produced by the photographic industry. Of the total silver released into the environment each year almost 4 percent enters the atmosphere, 28 percent enters aquatic environments, and 68 percent enters terrestrial ecosystems. Silver and silver compounds released into the environment can travel long distances in air and water, including groundwater.

Silver compounds can concentrate or accumulate to elevated levels in the environment in several ways: mixed with soil or water at hazardous waste sites; as a by-product from the mining of copper, lead, zinc or gold ores; or as a by-product from the production of photographic film.

Such by-products can enter the environment directly, from a factory pipe draining into water for example, or indirectly, through water or sewage treatment plants.

The growth of small photo processing units in a range of retail outlets has increased the amount of silver-contaminated wastes entering municipal sewage treatment systems. These wastes, which are not regulated, can overwhelm the capacities of these systems to keep treated water within acceptable environmental safety guidelines. Public drinking water supplies in the United States have been found to contain up to 80 parts per billion of silver 80 micrograms per liter.

Humans have valued silver since antiquity. Sterling silver an alloy of 92 percent silver, blended with copper and other metals gives a lustrous appearance to coins, jewelry, and silverware. The fact that pure silver is slightly harder than gold, but still very ductile and malleable, makes it a natural choice for dental fillings. Silver has also been used to make equipment that processes foods and beverages. Silver makes a beautiful coating for mirrors that reflects visible light almost perfectly.

Scientists are now conducting studies in desert regions of the United States and Mexico, to quantify and validate this silver cloud-seeding technology, and to determine whether it would increase rainfall in drought-ridden areas. Normally, clouds produce rain when tiny particles of dust attract moisture and grow into raindrops.

Silver really exploded on Earth, however, when Europeans landed on the New World in Spanish conquerors discovered that South America was home to rich veins of silver and silver ore, and they mined that wealth enthusiastically; according to the Silver Institute , an industry trade group, 85 percent of the silver produced worldwide came from Bolivia, Peru and Mexico between and Silver played a big role in making early photography possible.

Silver nitrate silver combined with nitrogen and oxygen molecules was used on photographic plates in the first, clunky cameras, according to the RSC, because it reacts to light by turning black — enabling photographers to capture an instant of light. Even with the rise of digital cameras, silver remains part of the traditional photographic process. As of , the most recent year data is available, 1, metric tons of silver each year went to use for photographic purposes.

Electrical and electronic uses were the second most-common single industrial use for silver, with 1, metric tons going into wires and gadgets in Jewelry, sterling silver and silver electroplated objects ran a distant third, using only metric tons. Another 1, metric tons went to various other uses.

Silver's antimicrobial properties have put this element in the doctor's bag of tricks; according to Wounds International , silver has been used to prevent the infection of injuries for hundreds of years. Silver doesn't kill microbes in its metallic form, in which it is unreactive.

The metal works against bacteria only in ion form — it must lose an electron to become positively charged. The positively charged silver ion interferes with bacterial cell walls and disrupts other microbial processes.

Burn patients may use silver-antibiotic creams on their injuries, and some hospitals use silver-infused dressings for skin ulcers and other wound care. There are debates within the field, however, about the efficacy of these dressings, particularly after a review published in the Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews found that they don't speed wound healing.

A Wounds International working group of medical professionals, however, argued in that the dressings can be useful for localized infections. Atomic number The number of protons in an atom. Electron configuration The arrangements of electrons above the last closed shell noble gas.

Melting point The temperature at which the solid—liquid phase change occurs. Boiling point The temperature at which the liquid—gas phase change occurs. Sublimation The transition of a substance directly from the solid to the gas phase without passing through a liquid phase. Relative atomic mass The mass of an atom relative to that of carbon This is approximately the sum of the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. Where more than one isotope exists, the value given is the abundance weighted average.

Isotopes Atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons. CAS number The Chemical Abstracts Service registry number is a unique identifier of a particular chemical, designed to prevent confusion arising from different languages and naming systems. Murray Robertson is the artist behind the images which make up Visual Elements. This is where the artist explains his interpretation of the element and the science behind the picture. Where the element is most commonly found in nature, and how it is sourced commercially.

Atomic radius, non-bonded Half of the distance between two unbonded atoms of the same element when the electrostatic forces are balanced. These values were determined using several different methods. Covalent radius Half of the distance between two atoms within a single covalent bond.

Values are given for typical oxidation number and coordination. Electron affinity The energy released when an electron is added to the neutral atom and a negative ion is formed. Electronegativity Pauling scale The tendency of an atom to attract electrons towards itself, expressed on a relative scale.

First ionisation energy The minimum energy required to remove an electron from a neutral atom in its ground state. The oxidation state of an atom is a measure of the degree of oxidation of an atom. It is defined as being the charge that an atom would have if all bonds were ionic.

Uncombined elements have an oxidation state of 0. The sum of the oxidation states within a compound or ion must equal the overall charge. Data for this section been provided by the British Geological Survey. An integrated supply risk index from 1 very low risk to 10 very high risk. This is calculated by combining the scores for crustal abundance, reserve distribution, production concentration, substitutability, recycling rate and political stability scores.

The percentage of a commodity which is recycled. A higher recycling rate may reduce risk to supply. The availability of suitable substitutes for a given commodity. The percentage of an element produced in the top producing country. The higher the value, the larger risk there is to supply. The percentage of the world reserves located in the country with the largest reserves. A percentile rank for the political stability of the top producing country, derived from World Bank governance indicators.

A percentile rank for the political stability of the country with the largest reserves, derived from World Bank governance indicators. Specific heat capacity is the amount of energy needed to change the temperature of a kilogram of a substance by 1 K. A measure of the stiffness of a substance. It provides a measure of how difficult it is to extend a material, with a value given by the ratio of tensile strength to tensile strain. A measure of how difficult it is to deform a material.

It is given by the ratio of the shear stress to the shear strain. A measure of how difficult it is to compress a substance. It is given by the ratio of the pressure on a body to the fractional decrease in volume.

A measure of the propensity of a substance to evaporate. It is defined as the equilibrium pressure exerted by the gas produced above a substance in a closed system. This Site has been carefully prepared for your visit, and we ask you to honour and agree to the following terms and conditions when using this Site.

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Jump to main content. Periodic Table. Glossary Allotropes Some elements exist in several different structural forms, called allotropes. Glossary Group A vertical column in the periodic table. Fact box. Group 11 Melting point Glossary Image explanation Murray Robertson is the artist behind the images which make up Visual Elements. Appearance The description of the element in its natural form. Biological role The role of the element in humans, animals and plants.

Natural abundance Where the element is most commonly found in nature, and how it is sourced commercially. Uses and properties. Image explanation. The symbol is based on the widely used alchemical symbol for silver. Silver is a relatively soft, shiny metal. It tarnishes slowly in air as sulfur compounds react with the surface forming black silver sulfide. Sterling silver contains The rest is copper or some other metal.

It is used for jewellery and silver tableware, where appearance is important.