126-610: Silver is a chemical element ; it has symbol Ag (from Latin argentum 'silver', derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ ' shiny, white ' ) and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal , it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity , thermal conductivity , and reflectivity of any metal . Silver is found in the Earth's crust in the pure, free elemental form (" native silver"), as an alloy with gold and other metals, and in minerals such as argentite and chlorargyrite . Most silver
252-482: A bullet cast from silver is often supposed in such folklore the only weapon that is effective against a werewolf , witch , or other monsters . From this the idiom of a silver bullet developed into figuratively referring to any simple solution with very high effectiveness or almost miraculous results, as in the widely discussed software engineering paper " No Silver Bullet ." Other powers attributed to silver include detection of poison and facilitation of passage into
378-492: A covalent character and are relatively weak. This observation explains the low hardness and high ductility of single crystals of silver. Silver has a brilliant, white, metallic luster that can take a high polish , and which is so characteristic that the name of the metal itself has become a color name . Protected silver has greater optical reflectivity than aluminium at all wavelengths longer than ~450 nm. At wavelengths shorter than 450 nm, silver's reflectivity
504-738: A pure element . In chemistry, a pure element means a substance whose atoms all (or in practice almost all) have the same atomic number, or number of protons . Nuclear scientists, however, define a pure element as one that consists of only one isotope. For example, a copper wire is 99.99% chemically pure if 99.99% of its atoms are copper, with 29 protons each. However it is not isotopically pure since ordinary copper consists of two stable isotopes, 69% Cu and 31% Cu, with different numbers of neutrons. However, pure gold would be both chemically and isotopically pure, since ordinary gold consists only of one isotope, Au. Atoms of chemically pure elements may bond to each other chemically in more than one way, allowing
630-450: A colorant in stained glass , and in specialized confectionery. Its compounds are used in photographic and X-ray film. Dilute solutions of silver nitrate and other silver compounds are used as disinfectants and microbiocides ( oligodynamic effect ), added to bandages , wound-dressings, catheters , and other medical instruments . Silver is similar in its physical and chemical properties to its two vertical neighbours in group 11 of
756-549: A considerable amount of time. (See element naming controversy ). Precursors of such controversies involved the nationalistic namings of elements in the late 19th century. For example, lutetium was named in reference to Paris, France. The Germans were reluctant to relinquish naming rights to the French, often calling it cassiopeium . Similarly, the British discoverer of niobium originally named it columbium , in reference to
882-477: A different element in nuclear reactions , which change an atom's atomic number. Historically, the term "chemical element" meant a substance that cannot be broken down into constituent substances by chemical reactions, and for most practical purposes this definition still has validity. There was some controversy in the 1920s over whether isotopes deserved to be recognized as separate elements if they could be separated by chemical means. The term "(chemical) element"
1008-652: A few decay products, to have been differentiated from other elements. Most recently, the synthesis of element 118 (since named oganesson ) was reported in October 2006, and the synthesis of element 117 ( tennessine ) was reported in April 2010. Of these 118 elements, 94 occur naturally on Earth. Six of these occur in extreme trace quantities: technetium , atomic number 43; promethium , number 61; astatine , number 85; francium , number 87; neptunium , number 93; and plutonium , number 94. These 94 elements have been detected in
1134-529: A few elements, such as silver and gold , are found uncombined as relatively pure native element minerals . Nearly all other naturally occurring elements occur in the Earth as compounds or mixtures. Air is mostly a mixture of molecular nitrogen and oxygen , though it does contain compounds including carbon dioxide and water , as well as atomic argon , a noble gas which is chemically inert and therefore does not undergo chemical reactions. The history of
1260-589: A non-Indo-European Wanderwort . Some scholars have thus proposed a Paleo-Hispanic origin, pointing to the Basque form zilharr as an evidence. The chemical symbol Ag is from the Latin word for silver , argentum (compare Ancient Greek ἄργυρος , árgyros ), from the Proto-Indo-European root * h₂erǵ- (formerly reconstructed as *arǵ- ), meaning ' white ' or ' shining ' . This
1386-500: A pressure of 1 bar and a given temperature (typically at 298.15K). However, for phosphorus, the reference state is white phosphorus even though it is not the most stable allotrope, and the reference state for carbon is graphite, because the structure of graphite is more stable than that of the other allotropes. In thermochemistry , an element is defined to have an enthalpy of formation of zero in its reference state. Several kinds of descriptive categorizations can be applied broadly to
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#17327657162251512-483: A pressure of one atmosphere, are commonly used in characterizing the various elements. While known for most elements, either or both of these measurements is still undetermined for some of the radioactive elements available in only tiny quantities. Since helium remains a liquid even at absolute zero at atmospheric pressure, it has only a boiling point, and not a melting point, in conventional presentations. The density at selected standard temperature and pressure (STP)
1638-560: A reward for betrayal, references the bribe Judas Iscariot is said in the New Testament to have taken from Jewish leaders in Jerusalem to turn Jesus of Nazareth over to soldiers of the high priest Caiaphas. Ethically, silver also symbolizes greed and degradation of consciousness; this is the negative aspect, the perverting of its value. The abundance of silver in the Earth's crust is 0.08 parts per million , almost exactly
1764-627: A scale unparalleled before the discovery of the New World . Reaching a peak production of 200 tonnes per year, an estimated silver stock of 10,000 tonnes circulated in the Roman economy in the middle of the second century AD, five to ten times larger than the combined amount of silver available to medieval Europe and the Abbasid Caliphate around AD 800. The Romans also recorded the extraction of silver in central and northern Europe in
1890-456: A small group, (the metalloids ), having intermediate properties and often behaving as semiconductors . A more refined classification is often shown in colored presentations of the periodic table. This system restricts the terms "metal" and "nonmetal" to only certain of the more broadly defined metals and nonmetals, adding additional terms for certain sets of the more broadly viewed metals and nonmetals. The version of this classification used in
2016-474: A whole number. For example, the relative atomic mass of chlorine is 35.453 u, which differs greatly from a whole number as it is an average of about 76% chlorine-35 and 24% chlorine-37. Whenever a relative atomic mass value differs by more than ~1% from a whole number, it is due to this averaging effect, as significant amounts of more than one isotope are naturally present in a sample of that element. Chemists and nuclear scientists have different definitions of
2142-567: Is cognate with Old High German silabar ; Gothic silubr ; or Old Norse silfr , all ultimately deriving from Proto-Germanic *silubra . The Balto-Slavic words for silver are rather similar to the Germanic ones (e.g. Russian серебро [ serebró ], Polish srebro , Lithuanian sidãbras ), as is the Celtiberian form silabur . They may have a common Indo-European origin, although their morphology rather suggest
2268-482: Is magnified thousands of times, it usually looks like a succession of mountains and valleys. By repeated abrasion, those "mountains" are worn down until they are flat or just small "hills". The process of polishing with abrasives starts with a coarse grain size and gradually proceeds to the finer ones to efficiently flatten the surface imperfections and to obtain optimal results. The strength of polished products can be higher than their unpolished counterparts owing to
2394-464: Is the difluoride , AgF 2 , which can be obtained from the elements under heat. A strong yet thermally stable and therefore safe fluorinating agent, silver(II) fluoride is often used to synthesize hydrofluorocarbons . In stark contrast to this, all four silver(I) halides are known. The fluoride , chloride , and bromide have the sodium chloride structure, but the iodide has three known stable forms at different temperatures; that at room temperature
2520-404: Is 10 (for tin , element 50). The mass number of an element, A , is the number of nucleons (protons and neutrons) in the atomic nucleus. Different isotopes of a given element are distinguished by their mass number, which is written as a superscript on the left hand side of the chemical symbol (e.g., U). The mass number is always an integer and has units of "nucleons". Thus, magnesium-24 (24
2646-467: Is Ag 3 O which behaves as a metallic conductor. Silver(I) sulfide , Ag 2 S, is very readily formed from its constituent elements and is the cause of the black tarnish on some old silver objects. It may also be formed from the reaction of hydrogen sulfide with silver metal or aqueous Ag ions. Many non-stoichiometric selenides and tellurides are known; in particular, AgTe ~3 is a low-temperature superconductor . The only known dihalide of silver
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#17327657162252772-606: Is a mixture of C (about 98.9%), C (about 1.1%) and about 1 atom per trillion of C. Most (54 of 94) naturally occurring elements have more than one stable isotope. Except for the isotopes of hydrogen (which differ greatly from each other in relative mass—enough to cause chemical effects), the isotopes of a given element are chemically nearly indistinguishable. All elements have radioactive isotopes (radioisotopes); most of these radioisotopes do not occur naturally. Radioisotopes typically decay into other elements via alpha decay , beta decay , or inverse beta decay ; some isotopes of
2898-406: Is a dimensionless number equal to the atomic mass divided by the atomic mass constant , which equals 1 Da. In general, the mass number of a given nuclide differs in value slightly from its relative atomic mass, since the mass of each proton and neutron is not exactly 1 Da; since the electrons contribute a lesser share to the atomic mass as neutron number exceeds proton number; and because of
3024-812: Is an ongoing area of scientific study. The lightest elements are hydrogen and helium , both created by Big Bang nucleosynthesis in the first 20 minutes of the universe in a ratio of around 3:1 by mass (or 12:1 by number of atoms), along with tiny traces of the next two elements, lithium and beryllium . Almost all other elements found in nature were made by various natural methods of nucleosynthesis . On Earth, small amounts of new atoms are naturally produced in nucleogenic reactions, or in cosmogenic processes, such as cosmic ray spallation . New atoms are also naturally produced on Earth as radiogenic daughter isotopes of ongoing radioactive decay processes such as alpha decay , beta decay , spontaneous fission , cluster decay , and other rarer modes of decay. Of
3150-460: Is based on a Latin or other traditional word, for example adopting "gold" rather than "aurum" as the name for the 79th element (Au). IUPAC prefers the British spellings " aluminium " and "caesium" over the U.S. spellings "aluminum" and "cesium", and the U.S. "sulfur" over British "sulphur". However, elements that are practical to sell in bulk in many countries often still have locally used national names, and countries whose national language does not use
3276-435: Is because its filled 4d shell is not very effective in shielding the electrostatic forces of attraction from the nucleus to the outermost 5s electron, and hence silver is near the bottom of the electrochemical series ( E (Ag/Ag) = +0.799 V). In group 11, silver has the lowest first ionization energy (showing the instability of the 5s orbital), but has higher second and third ionization energies than copper and gold (showing
3402-547: Is higher than that of lead (1.87), and its electron affinity of 125.6 kJ/mol is much higher than that of hydrogen (72.8 kJ/mol) and not much less than that of oxygen (141.0 kJ/mol). Due to its full d-subshell, silver in its main +1 oxidation state exhibits relatively few properties of the transition metals proper from groups 4 to 10, forming rather unstable organometallic compounds , forming linear complexes showing very low coordination numbers like 2, and forming an amphoteric oxide as well as Zintl phases like
3528-426: Is inferior to that of aluminium and drops to zero near 310 nm. Very high electrical and thermal conductivity are common to the elements in group 11, because their single s electron is free and does not interact with the filled d subshell, as such interactions (which occur in the preceding transition metals) lower electron mobility. The thermal conductivity of silver is among the highest of all materials, although
3654-473: Is known to have some of the largest silver deposits in the world. Chemical element A chemical element is a chemical substance whose atoms all have the same number of protons . The number of protons is called the atomic number of that element. For example, oxygen has an atomic number of 8, meaning each oxygen atom has 8 protons in its nucleus. Atoms of the same element can have different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei, known as isotopes of
3780-410: Is much less stable, fuming in moist air and reacting with glass. Silver(II) complexes are more common. Like the valence isoelectronic copper(II) complexes, they are usually square planar and paramagnetic, which is increased by the greater field splitting for 4d electrons than for 3d electrons. Aqueous Ag, produced by oxidation of Ag by ozone, is a very strong oxidising agent, even in acidic solutions: it
3906-409: Is not reversible because the silver atom liberated is typically found at a crystal defect or an impurity site, so that the electron's energy is lowered enough that it is "trapped". White silver nitrate , AgNO 3 , is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, especially the halides, and is much less sensitive to light. It was once called lunar caustic because silver was called luna by
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4032-436: Is often used in characterizing the elements. Density is often expressed in grams per cubic centimetre (g/cm ). Since several elements are gases at commonly encountered temperatures, their densities are usually stated for their gaseous forms; when liquefied or solidified, the gaseous elements have densities similar to those of the other elements. When an element has allotropes with different densities, one representative allotrope
4158-423: Is pale yellow, becoming purplish on exposure to light; it projects slightly from the surface of the artifact or coin. The precipitation of copper in ancient silver can be used to date artifacts, as copper is nearly always a constituent of silver alloys. Silver metal is attacked by strong oxidizers such as potassium permanganate ( KMnO 4 ) and potassium dichromate ( K 2 Cr 2 O 7 ), and in
4284-400: Is produced as a byproduct of copper , gold, lead , and zinc refining . Silver has long been valued as a precious metal . Silver metal is used in many bullion coins , sometimes alongside gold : while it is more abundant than gold, it is much less abundant as a native metal . Its purity is typically measured on a per-mille basis; a 94%-pure alloy is described as "0.940 fine". As one of
4410-411: Is rare in the periodic table. The atomic weight is 107.8682(2) u ; this value is very important because of the importance of silver compounds, particularly halides, in gravimetric analysis . Both isotopes of silver are produced in stars via the s-process (slow neutron capture), as well as in supernovas via the r-process (rapid neutron capture). Twenty-eight radioisotopes have been characterized,
4536-533: Is reflected in the relative decomposition temperatures of AgMe (−50 °C) and CuMe (−15 °C) as well as those of PhAg (74 °C) and PhCu (100 °C). The C–Ag bond is stabilized by perfluoroalkyl ligands, for example in AgCF(CF 3 ) 2 . Alkenylsilver compounds are also more stable than their alkylsilver counterparts. Silver- NHC complexes are easily prepared, and are commonly used to prepare other NHC complexes by displacing labile ligands. For example,
4662-468: Is stabilized in phosphoric acid due to complex formation. Peroxodisulfate oxidation is generally necessary to give the more stable complexes with heterocyclic amines , such as [Ag(py) 4 ] and [Ag(bipy) 2 ]: these are stable provided the counterion cannot reduce the silver back to the +1 oxidation state. [AgF 4 ] is also known in its violet barium salt, as are some silver(II) complexes with N - or O -donor ligands such as pyridine carboxylates. By far
4788-409: Is the cubic zinc blende structure. They can all be obtained by the direct reaction of their respective elements. As the halogen group is descended, the silver halide gains more and more covalent character, solubility decreases, and the colour changes from the white chloride to the yellow iodide as the energy required for ligand-metal charge transfer (XAg → XAg) decreases. The fluoride is anomalous, as
4914-426: Is the mass number) is an atom with 24 nucleons (12 protons and 12 neutrons). Whereas the mass number simply counts the total number of neutrons and protons and is thus an integer, the atomic mass of a particular isotope (or "nuclide") of the element is the mass of a single atom of that isotope, and is typically expressed in daltons (symbol: Da), or universal atomic mass units (symbol: u). Its relative atomic mass
5040-500: Is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or by applying a chemical treatment, leaving a clean surface with a significant specular reflection (still limited by the index of refraction of the material according to the Fresnel equations ). In some materials (such as metals, glasses, black or transparent stones), polishing is also able to reduce diffuse reflection to minimal values. When an unpolished surface
5166-532: Is typically selected in summary presentations, while densities for each allotrope can be stated where more detail is provided. For example, the three familiar allotropes of carbon ( amorphous carbon , graphite , and diamond ) have densities of 1.8–2.1, 2.267, and 3.515 g/cm , respectively. The elements studied to date as solid samples have eight kinds of crystal structures : cubic , body-centered cubic , face-centered cubic, hexagonal , monoclinic , orthorhombic , rhombohedral , and tetragonal . For some of
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5292-417: Is used in two different but closely related meanings: it can mean a chemical substance consisting of a single kind of atoms, or it can mean that kind of atoms as a component of various chemical substances. For example, molecules of water (H 2 O) contain atoms of hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O), so water can be said as a compound consisting of the elements hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) even though it does not contain
5418-725: Is used in vacuum brazing . The two metals are completely miscible as liquids but not as solids; their importance in industry comes from the fact that their properties tend to be suitable over a wide range of variation in silver and copper concentration, although most useful alloys tend to be richer in silver than the eutectic mixture (71.9% silver and 28.1% copper by weight, and 60.1% silver and 28.1% copper by atom). Most other binary alloys are of little use: for example, silver–gold alloys are too soft and silver– cadmium alloys too toxic. Ternary alloys have much greater importance: dental amalgams are usually silver–tin–mercury alloys, silver–copper–gold alloys are very important in jewellery (usually on
5544-481: Is usually obtained by reacting silver or silver monofluoride with the strongest known oxidizing agent, krypton difluoride . Silver and gold have rather low chemical affinities for oxygen, lower than copper, and it is therefore expected that silver oxides are thermally quite unstable. Soluble silver(I) salts precipitate dark-brown silver(I) oxide , Ag 2 O, upon the addition of alkali. (The hydroxide AgOH exists only in solution; otherwise it spontaneously decomposes to
5670-429: Is very strong; fullerenes , which have nearly spherical shapes; and carbon nanotubes , which are tubes with a hexagonal structure (even these may differ from each other in electrical properties). The ability of an element to exist in one of many structural forms is known as 'allotropy'. The reference state of an element is defined by convention, usually as the thermodynamically most stable allotrope and physical state at
5796-590: Is widely used. For example, the French chemical terminology distinguishes élément chimique (kind of atoms) and corps simple (chemical substance consisting of a single kind of atoms); the Russian chemical terminology distinguishes химический элемент and простое вещество . Almost all baryonic matter in the universe is composed of elements (among rare exceptions are neutron stars ). When different elements undergo chemical reactions, atoms are rearranged into new compounds held together by chemical bonds . Only
5922-489: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) had recognized a total of 118 elements. The first 94 occur naturally on Earth , and the remaining 24 are synthetic elements produced in nuclear reactions. Save for unstable radioactive elements (radioelements) which decay quickly, nearly all elements are available industrially in varying amounts. The discovery and synthesis of further new elements
6048-845: The Koenigs–Knorr reaction . In the Fétizon oxidation , silver carbonate on celite acts as an oxidising agent to form lactones from diols . It is also employed to convert alkyl bromides into alcohols . Silver fulminate , AgCNO, a powerful, touch-sensitive explosive used in percussion caps , is made by reaction of silver metal with nitric acid in the presence of ethanol . Other dangerously explosive silver compounds are silver azide , AgN 3 , formed by reaction of silver nitrate with sodium azide , and silver acetylide , Ag 2 C 2 , formed when silver reacts with acetylene gas in ammonia solution. In its most characteristic reaction, silver azide decomposes explosively, releasing nitrogen gas: given
6174-545: The Lahn region, Siegerland , Silesia , Hungary , Norway , Steiermark , Schwaz , and the southern Black Forest . Most of these ores were quite rich in silver and could simply be separated by hand from the remaining rock and then smelted; some deposits of native silver were also encountered. Many of these mines were soon exhausted, but a few of them remained active until the Industrial Revolution , before which
6300-587: The Latin alphabet are likely to use the IUPAC element names. According to IUPAC, element names are not proper nouns; therefore, the full name of an element is not capitalized in English, even if derived from a proper noun , as in californium and einsteinium . Isotope names are also uncapitalized if written out, e.g., carbon-12 or uranium-235 . Chemical element symbols (such as Cf for californium and Es for einsteinium), are always capitalized (see below). In
6426-592: The New World . It was used extensively as such by American publications before the international standardization (in 1950). Before chemistry became a science , alchemists designed arcane symbols for both metals and common compounds. These were however used as abbreviations in diagrams or procedures; there was no concept of atoms combining to form molecules . With his advances in the atomic theory of matter, John Dalton devised his own simpler symbols, based on circles, to depict molecules. Polishing Polishing
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#17327657162256552-423: The kinetic isotope effect is significant). Thus, all carbon isotopes have nearly identical chemical properties because they all have six electrons, even though they may have 6 to 8 neutrons. That is why atomic number, rather than mass number or atomic weight , is considered the identifying characteristic of an element. The symbol for atomic number is Z . Isotopes are atoms of the same element (that is, with
6678-665: The mythical realm of fairies . Silver production has also inspired figurative language. Clear references to cupellation occur throughout the Old Testament of the Bible , such as in Jeremiah 's rebuke to Judah: "The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them." (Jeremiah 6:19–20) Jeremiah
6804-405: The nuclear binding energy and electron binding energy. For example, the atomic mass of chlorine-35 to five significant digits is 34.969 Da and that of chlorine-37 is 36.966 Da. However, the relative atomic mass of each isotope is quite close to its mass number (always within 1%). The only isotope whose atomic mass is exactly a natural number is C, which has a mass of 12 Da; because
6930-425: The periodic table : copper , and gold . Its 47 electrons are arranged in the configuration [Kr]4d5s, similarly to copper ([Ar]3d4s) and gold ([Xe]4f5d6s); group 11 is one of the few groups in the d-block which has a completely consistent set of electron configurations. This distinctive electron configuration, with a single electron in the highest occupied s subshell over a filled d subshell, accounts for many of
7056-435: The platinum complexes (though they are formed more readily than those of the analogous gold complexes): they are also quite unsymmetrical, showing the weak π bonding in group 11. Ag–C σ bonds may also be formed by silver(I), like copper(I) and gold(I), but the simple alkyls and aryls of silver(I) are even less stable than those of copper(I) (which tend to explode under ambient conditions). For example, poor thermal stability
7182-524: The post-transition metals . Unlike the preceding transition metals, the +1 oxidation state of silver is stable even in the absence of π-acceptor ligands . Silver does not react with air, even at red heat, and thus was considered by alchemists as a noble metal , along with gold. Its reactivity is intermediate between that of copper (which forms copper(I) oxide when heated in air to red heat) and gold. Like copper, silver reacts with sulfur and its compounds; in their presence, silver tarnishes in air to form
7308-730: The 19th century, primary production of silver moved to North America, particularly Canada , Mexico , and Nevada in the United States : some secondary production from lead and zinc ores also took place in Europe, and deposits in Siberia and the Russian Far East as well as in Australia were mined. Poland emerged as an important producer during the 1970s after the discovery of copper deposits that were rich in silver, before
7434-638: The 94 naturally occurring elements, those with atomic numbers 1 through 82 each have at least one stable isotope (except for technetium , element 43 and promethium , element 61, which have no stable isotopes). Isotopes considered stable are those for which no radioactive decay has yet been observed. Elements with atomic numbers 83 through 94 are unstable to the point that radioactive decay of all isotopes can be detected. Some of these elements, notably bismuth (atomic number 83), thorium (atomic number 90), and uranium (atomic number 92), have one or more isotopes with half-lives long enough to survive as remnants of
7560-487: The French, Italians, Greeks, Portuguese and Poles prefer "azote/azot/azoto" (from roots meaning "no life") for "nitrogen". For purposes of international communication and trade, the official names of the chemical elements both ancient and more recently recognized are decided by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), which has decided on a sort of international English language, drawing on traditional English names even when an element's chemical symbol
7686-573: The Greek and Roman civilizations, silver coins were a staple of the economy: the Greeks were already extracting silver from galena by the 7th century BC, and the rise of Athens was partly made possible by the nearby silver mines at Laurium , from which they extracted about 30 tonnes a year from 600 to 300 BC. The stability of the Roman currency relied to a high degree on the supply of silver bullion, mostly from Spain, which Roman miners produced on
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#17327657162257812-553: The ancient alchemists, who believed that silver was associated with the Moon. It is often used for gravimetric analysis, exploiting the insolubility of the heavier silver halides which it is a common precursor to. Silver nitrate is used in many ways in organic synthesis , e.g. for deprotection and oxidations. Ag binds alkenes reversibly, and silver nitrate has been used to separate mixtures of alkenes by selective absorption. The resulting adduct can be decomposed with ammonia to release
7938-487: The atomic masses of the elements (their atomic weights or atomic masses) do not always increase monotonically with their atomic numbers. The naming of various substances now known as elements precedes the atomic theory of matter, as names were given locally by various cultures to various minerals, metals, compounds, alloys, mixtures, and other materials, though at the time it was not known which chemicals were elements and which compounds. As they were identified as elements,
8064-636: The black silver sulfide (copper forms the green sulfate instead, while gold does not react). While silver is not attacked by non-oxidizing acids, the metal dissolves readily in hot concentrated sulfuric acid , as well as dilute or concentrated nitric acid . In the presence of air, and especially in the presence of hydrogen peroxide , silver dissolves readily in aqueous solutions of cyanide . The three main forms of deterioration in historical silver artifacts are tarnishing, formation of silver chloride due to long-term immersion in salt water, as well as reaction with nitrate ions or oxygen. Fresh silver chloride
8190-710: The centre of production returned to the Americas the following decade. Today, Peru and Mexico are still among the primary silver producers, but the distribution of silver production around the world is quite balanced and about one-fifth of the silver supply comes from recycling instead of new production. Silver plays a certain role in mythology and has found various usage as a metaphor and in folklore. The Greek poet Hesiod 's Works and Days (lines 109–201) lists different ages of man named after metals like gold, silver, bronze and iron to account for successive ages of humanity. Ovid 's Metamorphoses contains another retelling of
8316-413: The chemical substances (di)hydrogen (H 2 ) and (di)oxygen (O 2 ), as H 2 O molecules are different from H 2 and O 2 molecules. For the meaning "chemical substance consisting of a single kind of atoms", the terms "elementary substance" and "simple substance" have been suggested, but they have not gained much acceptance in English chemical literature, whereas in some other languages their equivalent
8442-408: The dalton is defined as 1/12 of the mass of a free neutral carbon-12 atom in the ground state. The standard atomic weight (commonly called "atomic weight") of an element is the average of the atomic masses of all the chemical element's isotopes as found in a particular environment, weighted by isotopic abundance, relative to the atomic mass unit. This number may be a fraction that is not close to
8568-416: The discovery and use of elements began with early human societies that discovered native minerals like carbon , sulfur , copper and gold (though the modern concept of an element was not yet understood). Attempts to classify materials such as these resulted in the concepts of classical elements , alchemy , and similar theories throughout history. Much of the modern understanding of elements developed from
8694-575: The discovery of cupellation , a technique that allowed silver metal to be extracted from its ores. While slag heaps found in Asia Minor and on the islands of the Aegean Sea indicate that silver was being separated from lead as early as the 4th millennium BC , and one of the earliest silver extraction centres in Europe was Sardinia in the early Chalcolithic period , these techniques did not spread widely until later, when it spread throughout
8820-431: The dominant producers of silver until around the beginning of the 18th century, particularly Peru , Bolivia , Chile , and Argentina : the last of these countries later took its name from that of the metal that composed so much of its mineral wealth. The silver trade gave way to a global network of exchange . As one historian put it, silver "went round the world and made the world go round." Much of this silver ended up in
8946-526: The element. Two or more atoms can combine to form molecules . Some elements are formed from molecules of identical atoms , e. g. atoms of hydrogen (H) form diatomic molecules (H 2 ). Chemical compounds are substances made of atoms of different elements; they can have molecular or non-molecular structure. Mixtures are materials containing different chemical substances; that means (in case of molecular substances) that they contain different types of molecules. Atoms of one element can be transformed into atoms of
9072-406: The elements are available by name, atomic number, density, melting point, boiling point and chemical symbol , as well as ionization energy . The nuclides of stable and radioactive elements are also available as a list of nuclides , sorted by length of half-life for those that are unstable. One of the most convenient, and certainly the most traditional presentation of the elements, is in the form of
9198-470: The elements are often summarized using the periodic table, which powerfully and elegantly organizes the elements by increasing atomic number into rows ( "periods" ) in which the columns ( "groups" ) share recurring ("periodic") physical and chemical properties. The table contains 118 confirmed elements as of 2021. Although earlier precursors to this presentation exist, its invention is generally credited to Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869, who intended
9324-480: The elements can be uniquely sequenced by atomic number, conventionally from lowest to highest (as in a periodic table), sets of elements are sometimes specified by such notation as "through", "beyond", or "from ... through", as in "through iron", "beyond uranium", or "from lanthanum through lutetium". The terms "light" and "heavy" are sometimes also used informally to indicate relative atomic numbers (not densities), as in "lighter than carbon" or "heavier than lead", though
9450-411: The elements in groups 10–14 (except boron and carbon ) have very complex Ag–M phase diagrams and form the most commercially important alloys; and the remaining elements on the periodic table have no consistency in their Ag–M phase diagrams. By far the most important such alloys are those with copper: most silver used for coinage and jewellery is in reality a silver–copper alloy, and the eutectic mixture
9576-413: The elements without any stable isotopes are technetium (atomic number 43), promethium (atomic number 61), and all observed elements with atomic number greater than 82. Of the 80 elements with at least one stable isotope, 26 have only one stable isotope. The mean number of stable isotopes for the 80 stable elements is 3.1 stable isotopes per element. The largest number of stable isotopes for a single element
9702-474: The elements, including consideration of their general physical and chemical properties, their states of matter under familiar conditions, their melting and boiling points, their densities, their crystal structures as solids, and their origins. Several terms are commonly used to characterize the general physical and chemical properties of the chemical elements. A first distinction is between metals , which readily conduct electricity , nonmetals , which do not, and
9828-525: The exceptions are the nitrate, perchlorate, and fluoride. The tetracoordinate tetrahedral aqueous ion [Ag(H 2 O) 4 ] is known, but the characteristic geometry for the Ag cation is 2-coordinate linear. For example, silver chloride dissolves readily in excess aqueous ammonia to form [Ag(NH 3 ) 2 ]; silver salts are dissolved in photography due to the formation of the thiosulfate complex [Ag(S 2 O 3 ) 2 ]; and cyanide extraction for silver (and gold) works by
9954-492: The existing names for anciently known elements (e.g., gold, mercury, iron) were kept in most countries. National differences emerged over the element names either for convenience, linguistic niceties, or nationalism. For example, German speakers use "Wasserstoff" (water substance) for "hydrogen", "Sauerstoff" (acid substance) for "oxygen" and "Stickstoff" (smothering substance) for "nitrogen"; English and some other languages use "sodium" for "natrium", and "potassium" for "kalium"; and
10080-630: The explosive stellar nucleosynthesis that produced the heavy metals before the formation of our Solar System . At over 1.9 × 10 years, over a billion times longer than the estimated age of the universe, bismuth-209 has the longest known alpha decay half-life of any isotope, and is almost always considered on par with the 80 stable elements. The heaviest elements (those beyond plutonium, element 94) undergo radioactive decay with half-lives so short that they are not found in nature and must be synthesized . There are now 118 known elements. In this context, "known" means observed well enough, even from just
10206-530: The fluoride ion is so small that it has a considerable solvation energy and hence is highly water-soluble and forms di- and tetrahydrates. The other three silver halides are highly insoluble in aqueous solutions and are very commonly used in gravimetric analytical methods. All four are photosensitive (though the monofluoride is so only to ultraviolet light), especially the bromide and iodide which photodecompose to silver metal, and thus were used in traditional photography . The reaction involved is: The process
10332-529: The formation of Earth, they are certain to have completely decayed, and if present in novae, are in quantities too small to have been noted. Technetium was the first purportedly non-naturally occurring element synthesized, in 1937, though trace amounts of technetium have since been found in nature (and also the element may have been discovered naturally in 1925). This pattern of artificial production and later natural discovery has been repeated with several other radioactive naturally occurring rare elements. List of
10458-519: The formation of the complex [Ag(CN) 2 ]. Silver cyanide forms the linear polymer {Ag–C≡N→Ag–C≡N→}; silver thiocyanate has a similar structure, but forms a zigzag instead because of the sp- hybridized sulfur atom. Chelating ligands are unable to form linear complexes and thus silver(I) complexes with them tend to form polymers; a few exceptions exist, such as the near-tetrahedral diphosphine and diarsine complexes [Ag(L–L) 2 ]. Under standard conditions, silver does not form simple carbonyls, due to
10584-409: The free alkene. Yellow silver carbonate , Ag 2 CO 3 can be easily prepared by reacting aqueous solutions of sodium carbonate with a deficiency of silver nitrate. Its principal use is for the production of silver powder for use in microelectronics. It is reduced with formaldehyde , producing silver free of alkali metals: Silver carbonate is also used as a reagent in organic synthesis such as
10710-572: The gold-rich side) and have a vast range of hardnesses and colours, silver–copper–zinc alloys are useful as low-melting brazing alloys, and silver–cadmium– indium (involving three adjacent elements on the periodic table) is useful in nuclear reactors because of its high thermal neutron capture cross-section , good conduction of heat, mechanical stability, and resistance to corrosion in hot water. The word silver appears in Old English in various spellings, such as seolfor and siolfor . It
10836-431: The half-lives predicted for the observationally stable lead isotopes range from 10 to 10 years. Elements with atomic numbers 43, 61, and 83 through 94 are unstable enough that their radioactive decay can be detected. Three of these elements, bismuth (element 83), thorium (90), and uranium (92) have one or more isotopes with half-lives long enough to survive as remnants of the explosive stellar nucleosynthesis that produced
10962-512: The hands of the Chinese. A Portuguese merchant in 1621 noted that silver "wanders throughout all the world... before flocking to China, where it remains as if at its natural center." Still, much of it went to Spain, allowing Spanish rulers to pursue military and political ambitions in both Europe and the Americas. "New World mines", concluded several historians, "supported the Spanish empire." In
11088-399: The heaviest elements also undergo spontaneous fission . Isotopes that are not radioactive, are termed "stable" isotopes. All known stable isotopes occur naturally (see primordial nuclide ). The many radioisotopes that are not found in nature have been characterized after being artificially produced. Certain elements have no stable isotopes and are composed only of radioisotopes: specifically
11214-549: The heavy elements before the formation of the Solar System. For example, at over 1.9 × 10 years, over a billion times longer than the estimated age of the universe, bismuth-209 has the longest known alpha decay half-life of any isotope. The last 24 elements (those beyond plutonium, element 94) undergo radioactive decay with short half-lives and cannot be produced as daughters of longer-lived elements, and thus are not known to occur in nature at all. 1 The properties of
11340-429: The most important oxidation state for silver in complexes is +1. The Ag cation is diamagnetic, like its homologues Cu and Au, as all three have closed-shell electron configurations with no unpaired electrons: its complexes are colourless provided the ligands are not too easily polarized such as I. Ag forms salts with most anions, but it is reluctant to coordinate to oxygen and thus most of these salts are insoluble in water:
11466-537: The most stable being Ag with a half-life of 41.29 days, Ag with a half-life of 7.45 days, and Ag with a half-life of 3.13 hours. Silver has numerous nuclear isomers , the most stable being Ag ( t 1/2 = 418 years), Ag ( t 1/2 = 249.79 days) and Ag ( t 1/2 = 8.28 days). All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives of less than an hour, and the majority of these have half-lives of less than three minutes. Isotopes of silver range in relative atomic mass from 92.950 u (Ag) to 129.950 u (Ag);
11592-535: The only objects with a high-enough palladium-to-silver ratio to yield measurable variations in Ag abundance. Radiogenic Ag was first discovered in the Santa Clara meteorite in 1978. Pd–Ag correlations observed in bodies that have clearly been melted since the accretion of the Solar System must reflect the presence of unstable nuclides in the early Solar System. Silver is a rather unreactive metal. This
11718-621: The ores of copper, copper-nickel, lead, and lead-zinc obtained from Peru , Bolivia , Mexico , China , Australia , Chile , Poland and Serbia . Peru, Bolivia and Mexico have been mining silver since 1546, and are still major world producers. Top silver-producing mines are Cannington (Australia), Fresnillo (Mexico), San Cristóbal (Bolivia), Antamina (Peru), Rudna (Poland), and Penasquito (Mexico). Top near-term mine development projects through 2015 are Pascua Lama (Chile), Navidad (Argentina), Jaunicipio (Mexico), Malku Khota (Bolivia), and Hackett River (Canada). In Central Asia , Tajikistan
11844-420: The oxide.) Silver(I) oxide is very easily reduced to metallic silver, and decomposes to silver and oxygen above 160 °C. This and other silver(I) compounds may be oxidized by the strong oxidizing agent peroxodisulfate to black AgO, a mixed silver(I,III) oxide of formula AgAgO 2 . Some other mixed oxides with silver in non-integral oxidation states, namely Ag 2 O 3 and Ag 3 O 4 , are also known, as
11970-418: The periodic table, which groups together elements with similar chemical properties (and usually also similar electronic structures). The atomic number of an element is equal to the number of protons in each atom, and defines the element. For example, all carbon atoms contain 6 protons in their atomic nucleus ; so the atomic number of carbon is 6. Carbon atoms may have different numbers of neutrons; atoms of
12096-426: The periodic tables presented here includes: actinides , alkali metals , alkaline earth metals , halogens , lanthanides , transition metals , post-transition metals , metalloids , reactive nonmetals , and noble gases . In this system, the alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, and transition metals, as well as the lanthanides and the actinides, are special groups of the metals viewed in a broader sense. Similarly,
12222-574: The photosensitivity of silver salts, this behaviour may be induced by shining a light on its crystals. Silver complexes tend to be similar to those of its lighter homologue copper. Silver(III) complexes tend to be rare and very easily reduced to the more stable lower oxidation states, though they are slightly more stable than those of copper(III). For instance, the square planar periodate [Ag(IO 5 OH) 2 ] and tellurate [Ag{TeO 4 (OH) 2 } 2 ] complexes may be prepared by oxidising silver(I) with alkaline peroxodisulfate . The yellow diamagnetic [AgF 4 ]
12348-958: The presence of potassium bromide ( KBr ). These compounds are used in photography to bleach silver images, converting them to silver bromide that can either be fixed with thiosulfate or redeveloped to intensify the original image. Silver forms cyanide complexes ( silver cyanide ) that are soluble in water in the presence of an excess of cyanide ions. Silver cyanide solutions are used in electroplating of silver. The common oxidation states of silver are (in order of commonness): +1 (the most stable state; for example, silver nitrate , AgNO 3 ); +2 (highly oxidising; for example, silver(II) fluoride , AgF 2 ); and even very rarely +3 (extreme oxidising; for example, potassium tetrafluoroargentate(III), KAgF 4 ). The +3 state requires very strong oxidising agents to attain, such as fluorine or peroxodisulfate , and some silver(III) compounds react with atmospheric moisture and attack glass. Indeed, silver(III) fluoride
12474-401: The primary decay mode before the most abundant stable isotope, Ag, is electron capture and the primary mode after is beta decay . The primary decay products before Ag are palladium (element 46) isotopes, and the primary products after are cadmium (element 48) isotopes. The palladium isotope Pd decays by beta emission to Ag with a half-life of 6.5 million years. Iron meteorites are
12600-412: The pure element to exist in multiple chemical structures ( spatial arrangements of atoms ), known as allotropes , which differ in their properties. For example, carbon can be found as diamond , which has a tetrahedral structure around each carbon atom; graphite , which has layers of carbon atoms with a hexagonal structure stacked on top of each other; graphene , which is a single layer of graphite that
12726-418: The reaction of the bis(NHC)silver(I) complex with bis(acetonitrile)palladium dichloride or chlorido(dimethyl sulfide)gold(I) : Silver forms alloys with most other elements on the periodic table. The elements from groups 1–3, except for hydrogen , lithium , and beryllium , are very miscible with silver in the condensed phase and form intermetallic compounds; those from groups 4–9 are only poorly miscible;
12852-772: The reactive nonmetals and the noble gases are nonmetals viewed in the broader sense. In some presentations, the halogens are not distinguished, with astatine identified as a metalloid and the others identified as nonmetals. Another commonly used basic distinction among the elements is their state of matter (phase), whether solid , liquid , or gas , at standard temperature and pressure (STP). Most elements are solids at STP, while several are gases. Only bromine and mercury are liquid at 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and 1 atmosphere pressure; caesium and gallium are solid at that temperature, but melt at 28.4°C (83.2°F) and 29.8°C (85.6°F), respectively. Melting and boiling points , typically expressed in degrees Celsius at
12978-509: The region and beyond. The origins of silver production in India , China , and Japan were almost certainly equally ancient, but are not well-documented due to their great age. When the Phoenicians first came to what is now Spain , they obtained so much silver that they could not fit it all on their ships, and as a result used silver to weight their anchors instead of lead. By the time of
13104-919: The remaining 11 elements have half lives too short for them to have been present at the beginning of the Solar System, and are therefore considered transient elements. Of these 11 transient elements, five ( polonium , radon , radium , actinium , and protactinium ) are relatively common decay products of thorium and uranium . The remaining six transient elements (technetium, promethium, astatine, francium , neptunium , and plutonium ) occur only rarely, as products of rare decay modes or nuclear reaction processes involving uranium or other heavy elements. Elements with atomic numbers 1 through 82, except 43 (technetium) and 61 (promethium), each have at least one isotope for which no radioactive decay has been observed. Observationally stable isotopes of some elements (such as tungsten and lead ), however, are predicted to be slightly radioactive with very long half-lives: for example,
13230-699: The same as that of mercury . It mostly occurs in sulfide ores, especially acanthite and argentite , Ag 2 S. Argentite deposits sometimes also contain native silver when they occur in reducing environments, and when in contact with salt water they are converted to chlorargyrite (including horn silver ), AgCl, which is prevalent in Chile and New South Wales . Most other silver minerals are silver pnictides or chalcogenides ; they are generally lustrous semiconductors. Most true silver deposits, as opposed to argentiferous deposits of other metals, came from Tertiary period vulcanism. The principal sources of silver are
13356-495: The same element having different numbers of neutrons are known as isotopes of the element. The number of protons in the nucleus also determines its electric charge , which in turn determines the number of electrons of the atom in its non-ionized state. The electrons are placed into atomic orbitals that determine the atom's chemical properties . The number of neutrons in a nucleus usually has very little effect on an element's chemical properties; except for hydrogen (for which
13482-404: The same number of protons in their nucleus), but having different numbers of neutrons . Thus, for example, there are three main isotopes of carbon. All carbon atoms have 6 protons, but they can have either 6, 7, or 8 neutrons. Since the mass numbers of these are 12, 13 and 14 respectively, said three isotopes are known as carbon-12 , carbon-13 , and carbon-14 ( C, C, and C). Natural carbon
13608-692: The same time period. This production came to a nearly complete halt with the fall of the Roman Empire, not to resume until the time of Charlemagne : by then, tens of thousands of tonnes of silver had already been extracted. Central Europe became the centre of silver production during the Middle Ages , as the Mediterranean deposits exploited by the ancient civilisations had been exhausted. Silver mines were opened in Bohemia , Saxony , Alsace ,
13734-457: The second half of the 20th century, physics laboratories became able to produce elements with half-lives too short for an appreciable amount of them to exist at any time. These are also named by IUPAC, which generally adopts the name chosen by the discoverer. This practice can lead to the controversial question of which research group actually discovered an element, a question that delayed the naming of elements with atomic number of 104 and higher for
13860-440: The seven metals of antiquity , silver has had an enduring role in most human cultures. Other than in currency and as an investment medium ( coins and bullion ), silver is used in solar panels , water filtration , jewellery , ornaments, high-value tableware and utensils (hence the term " silverware "), in electrical contacts and conductors , in specialized mirrors, window coatings, in catalysis of chemical reactions, as
13986-427: The singular properties of metallic silver. Silver is a relatively soft and extremely ductile and malleable transition metal , though it is slightly less malleable than gold. Silver crystallizes in a face-centered cubic lattice with bulk coordination number 12, where only the single 5s electron is delocalized, similarly to copper and gold. Unlike metals with incomplete d-shells, metallic bonds in silver are lacking
14112-419: The stability of the 4d orbitals), so that the chemistry of silver is predominantly that of the +1 oxidation state, reflecting the increasingly limited range of oxidation states along the transition series as the d-orbitals fill and stabilize. Unlike copper , for which the larger hydration energy of Cu as compared to Cu is the reason why the former is the more stable in aqueous solution and solids despite lacking
14238-441: The stable filled d-subshell of the latter, with silver this effect is swamped by its larger second ionisation energy. Hence, Ag is the stable species in aqueous solution and solids, with Ag being much less stable as it oxidizes water. Most silver compounds have significant covalent character due to the small size and high first ionization energy (730.8 kJ/mol) of silver. Furthermore, silver's Pauling electronegativity of 1.93
14364-411: The story, containing an illustration of silver's metaphorical use of signifying the second-best in a series, better than bronze but worse than gold: But when good Saturn , banish'd from above, Was driv'n to Hell, the world was under Jove . Succeeding times a silver age behold, Excelling brass, but more excell'd by gold. In folklore, silver was commonly thought to have mystic powers: for example,
14490-459: The structure of the silver is largely unchanged while the electron concentration rises as more zinc is added. Increasing the electron concentration further leads to body-centred cubic (electron concentration 1.5), complex cubic (1.615), and hexagonal close-packed phases (1.75). Naturally occurring silver is composed of two stable isotopes , Ag and Ag, with Ag being slightly more abundant (51.839% natural abundance ). This almost equal abundance
14616-477: The surface of conductors rather than through the interior. During World War II in the US, 13540 tons of silver were used for the electromagnets in calutrons for enriching uranium , mainly because of the wartime shortage of copper. Silver readily forms alloys with copper, gold, and zinc . Zinc-silver alloys with low zinc concentration may be considered as face-centred cubic solid solutions of zinc in silver, as
14742-496: The synthetically produced transuranic elements, available samples have been too small to determine crystal structures. Chemical elements may also be categorized by their origin on Earth, with the first 94 considered naturally occurring, while those with atomic numbers beyond 94 have only been produced artificially via human-made nuclear reactions. Of the 94 naturally occurring elements, 83 are considered primordial and either stable or weakly radioactive. The longest-lived isotopes of
14868-955: The table to illustrate recurring trends in the properties of the elements. The layout of the table has been refined and extended over time as new elements have been discovered and new theoretical models have been developed to explain chemical behavior. Use of the periodic table is now ubiquitous in chemistry, providing an extremely useful framework to classify, systematize and compare all the many different forms of chemical behavior. The table has also found wide application in physics , geology , biology , materials science , engineering , agriculture , medicine , nutrition , environmental health , and astronomy . Its principles are especially important in chemical engineering . The various chemical elements are formally identified by their unique atomic numbers, their accepted names, and their chemical symbols . The known elements have atomic numbers from 1 to 118, conventionally presented as Arabic numerals . Since
14994-538: The thermal conductivity of carbon (in the diamond allotrope ) and superfluid helium-4 are higher. The electrical conductivity of silver is the highest of all metals, greater even than copper. Silver also has the lowest contact resistance of any metal. Silver is rarely used for its electrical conductivity, due to its high cost, although an exception is in radio-frequency engineering , particularly at VHF and higher frequencies where silver plating improves electrical conductivity because those currents tend to flow on
15120-561: The universe at large, in the spectra of stars and also supernovae, where short-lived radioactive elements are newly being made. The first 94 elements have been detected directly on Earth as primordial nuclides present from the formation of the Solar System , or as naturally occurring fission or transmutation products of uranium and thorium. The remaining 24 heavier elements, not found today either on Earth or in astronomical spectra, have been produced artificially: all are radioactive, with short half-lives; if any of these elements were present at
15246-458: The weakness of the Ag–C bond. A few are known at very low temperatures around 6–15 K, such as the green, planar paramagnetic Ag(CO) 3 , which dimerizes at 25–30 K, probably by forming Ag–Ag bonds. Additionally, the silver carbonyl [Ag(CO)] [B(OTeF 5 ) 4 ] is known. Polymeric AgLX complexes with alkenes and alkynes are known, but their bonds are thermodynamically weaker than even those of
15372-528: The work of Dmitri Mendeleev , a Russian chemist who published the first recognizable periodic table in 1869. This table organizes the elements by increasing atomic number into rows (" periods ") in which the columns (" groups ") share recurring ("periodic") physical and chemical properties . The periodic table summarizes various properties of the elements, allowing chemists to derive relationships between them and to make predictions about elements not yet discovered, and potential new compounds. By November 2016,
15498-496: The world production of silver was around a meagre 50 tonnes per year. In the Americas, high temperature silver-lead cupellation technology was developed by pre-Inca civilizations as early as AD 60–120; silver deposits in India, China, Japan, and pre-Columbian America continued to be mined during this time. With the discovery of America and the plundering of silver by the Spanish conquistadors, Central and South America became
15624-412: Was also aware of sheet silver, exemplifying the malleability and ductility of the metal: "Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men." (Jeremiah 10:9) Silver also has more negative cultural meanings: the idiom thirty pieces of silver , referring to
15750-547: Was more often used ornamentally or as money. Since silver is more reactive than gold, supplies of native silver were much more limited than those of gold. For example, silver was more expensive than gold in Egypt until around the fifteenth century BC: the Egyptians are thought to have separated gold from silver by heating the metals with salt, and then reducing the silver chloride produced to the metal. The situation changed with
15876-454: Was the usual Proto-Indo-European word for the metal, whose reflexes are missing in Germanic and Balto-Slavic. Silver was known in prehistoric times: the three metals of group 11, copper, silver, and gold, occur in the elemental form in nature and were probably used as the first primitive forms of money as opposed to simple bartering. Unlike copper, silver did not lead to the growth of metallurgy , on account of its low structural strength; it
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