Element

Silver Element Properties and Information

September 13, 2022

Silver Element Properties and Information

Silver is forty-seventh element on the periodic table. Elements are arranged in the periodic table on the basis of the atomic number. Atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom. Silver has an atomic number of 47. It is located in the Group 11 and Period 5 of the periodic table of elements. It is denoted by Ag. The name is derived from its Anglo-Saxon name ‘Siolfur’.

Silver has been in use by humanity since ancient times. Silver artifacts have been found that date as back as 3000 BC. Organised mining of silver has been dated to be in presence in 600 BC. Silver was mined by various ancient civilizations all around the world.

Silver occurs in nature in uncombined form, in ores such as argentite and chlorargyrite. It also occurs in combined form and usually it is extracted from such combined sources for commercial use.

Physical Properties

Silver is a soft transition metal. It is ductile and malleable.
The atomic mass of silver is 107.87
The melting point of silver is 962°C
The boiling point of silver is 2212°C
The density of silver is 10500 in S.I. units at 20°C
Silver displays brilliant metallic lustre and it can be well polished to refine the shiny appearance. Its shine is so well recognised that a colour itself is named after the element.
The thermal conductivity of silver is highest of all materials.
The electrical conductivity of silver is highest among all metals.
Silver has two stable naturally occurring isotopes; silver-107 and silver-109. Both are found in almost equal quantities in nature with silver-107 being only slightly more abundant.

Chemical Properties

Silver is quite an unreactive metal.
The first ionisation energy of silver is lowest compared to all other elements in group-11.
Silver does not react with air even when it is heated until it becomes red.
The reactivity of silver is between copper bad gold.
Silver reacts with sulfur and its compounds.
Silver metal is attacked by strong oxidisers.
Most common oxidation states of silver are +1 and +2. The state of +3 is also observed rarely.
Silver forms halide with all four halogens and only with fluorine it forms a dihalide.
Silver nitrate is a notable compound because it is a precursor to form many other silver compounds.

Methods of Production

Smelting: Lead ores are smelted and subjected to cupellation. Lead melts at 327°C, lead oxide at 888°C, and silver melts at 960°C. The alloy needs to be melted at 960-1000°C in an oxidizing environment to obtain silver.

Electrolysis: Silver is obtained as by-product in cooper, lead, or zinc processing. The copper is collected at the cathode while silver and gold gets accumulated at the anode. Further dilute sulfuric acid treatment is given in order to obtain silver in pure form.

Relevance in Chemical and Related Industries

Catalyst: Silver metal is an extremely good catalyst for oxidation reactions. Finely divided silver catalysts are capable for causing complete oxidation of organic substances to carbon dioxide and water. For most of the chemical engineering applications coarser-grained form of silver is used so that it doesn’t over oxidise the ongoing process.

Equipments: Equipments required for chemical activity have silver in it because silver has low reactivity.

Relevance in Other Industries

Silverwares: Silver has antibacterial properties thus it is suitable for making cutlery. Usually silver plating is applied instead of making the items out of pure silver.

Medicine: Silver is used in wound dressing due to its antibacterial properties

Electronics: Silver is used for making high quality connectors for RF, VHF, cavity filters etc. Powdered silver is use in paste preparations for conductor layers, electrodes, ceramic capacitors, etc.

Nanoparticles: Silver nanoparticles have been used as antibacterials and antifungals also they have been used in conductive inks. Silver nanoparticles have much lower melting points than relatively larger particles of silver.