Facts about Silver

I'm sure if you looked you would have in your household several objects that are made of polished silver. For example: Silver dollars, or Silver dinner service, or photography equipment.

Silver is just a bit harder than gold, silver is very ductile and malleable. Because of silver's physical properties and brilliant white metallic luster it can take a high degree of polish. Copper has replaced silver in several instances due to its hire cost; this is especially true for electronic purposes.

Silver has a number of other notable characteristics:

·         Silver has the lowest contact resistance of any metal

·         Silver has the highest optical reflectivity of any metal

·         Silver has the whitest color of any metal

·         Silver has the highest thermal conductivity of any metal

Silver is stable in both pure air and water, but does tarnish when it is exposed to ozone, hydrogen sulfide, or air with sulfur in it. The most common use of silver is as a precious metal and its halide salts. This is especially true of silver nitrate. Silver is also widely used in photography, which has today, become the biggest single industry in which silver is used besides the jewelry market.