All practice pages/Interatomic theory/Elements
Element 47, a transition metal
The best conductor of electricity and heat of any element, the most reflective metal, and money for thousands of years.
Period 5, group 11. The other transition metals are tinted, and every cell opens its own article.
Silver gives up its single 5s electron to form Ag⁺, almost its only ion. Tarnish is silver sulfide, formed by traces of hydrogen sulfide in the air.
Occasionally found as native silver, but mostly recovered from ores of lead, zinc and copper. Mexico and Peru are the largest producers.
Known since ancient times; silver was mined in Anatolia more than 5,000 years ago. The name comes from the Old English seolfor. The symbol Ag comes from its Latin name argentum, which also named Argentina, after the silver early explorers hoped to find there.
Electronics and solar panels, which rely on its conductivity, now use the largest share. Silver also makes jewelry, silverware, coins and mirrors, brazing alloys, and antibacterial coatings and wound dressings. Silver bromide and silver chloride were the light-sensitive heart of film photography.