‘The Chemistry of Everyday Elements: Silver’
‘The Chemistry of Everyday Elements: Silver’ by Mari Rich
1. Silver was first mined more than 5000 years ago. It was one of the first metals discovered and used by humans. Other early discoveries are gold, copper, lead and iron.
2. Silver is malleable. A piece of silver can be flattened into a sheet just 0.0025 inches thick.
It is also ductile. If you had just a half ounce of silver, you could stretch it into a wire more than a mile long.
3. Silver is the best electrical conductor of all the metals. But copper is more often used for industrial purposes because it is much cheaper.
4. Silver doesn’t rust. But if silver is exposed to sulfur, it will become blackened or tarnished. You can get rid of the tarnish on a piece of silver jewelry or household item by rubbing off the layer of silver sulfide with a cloth.
5. Silver reacts readily with halogens. Any compound that contains a halogen is called a salt. The halogens are fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, astatine, and ununseptium. All halogens have seven electrons in their outer orbitals.
6. Silver sometimes acts as a catalyst, helping reactions between other elements to take place without being affected itself.
Ethylene oxide, which is important in plastic industry, could not be made without silver. Formaldehyde is another important industrial chemical that is formed with the help of silver as a catalyst.
7. Electronic manufacturers often make their products with silver membrane switches. Silver’s durability means that you can activate the switch millions and millions of times without it breaking or wearing out. Silver membrane switches are used in televisions, microwaves, cell phones, toys. etc. Circuit boards also use silver.
8. Silver is important in many home water purifiers. Tiny silver particles in the filter prevent bacteria and algae from building up, so that the unit can work effectively to strain out lead, chlorine, and other things people don’t want in their drinking water.
9. Solar panels contain photovoltaic cells that capture sunrays and transform them into energy. Almost all of them contain silver paste. Experts estimate that 70 million ounces of silver are used each year by solar panel manufacturers.
