Silver is considered by many as one of the most precious metals on the earth today. It is used in jewelery, building, and pretty much everything that needs it. So what are the numbers behind this mysterious metal? Well here they are.
Silver’s atomic number is 47, which means that it has 47 protons in its nucleus. It’s mass number is 107, which means that it has 47 protons, but it also has 60 neutrons. It is part of the element category entitled “Transition Metals”. Silver has 5 shells for its electrons, and they each contain, starting with the innermost layer, 2, 8, 18, 18, and 1 electrons. It is part of family/group 11 on the table, as well as being a member of the 5th period.
It’s natural color is silver (obviously), and it’s state at room temperature is solid. It has a very high melting point, which is set at 1234.93 Kelvins (1763.2 degrees Fahrenheit). It’s boiling point is nearly double that, at 2435 Kelvins (3924 degrees Fahrenheit). It’s atomic weight is set at approximately 107.8682 amu (Atomic mass units). The density of the metal while it is a solid is 10.49 grams/cc. It’s density while it is a liquid is approximately 9.32 grams/cc. The metal is a naturally occuring one that can occur in nature on it’s own or as an alloy with gold.
The symbol for silver (Ag) comes from the Latin word argentum.Silver is considered to be a very ductile and malleable metal. Ductile and malleable mean similar things, except for that ductility is the ability of an element to not fracture under tensile stress, but malleability is the ability of an element to not fracture under comprestion stress. Silver has the highest thermal conductivity of any metal, and it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element. This means that silver can conduct heat better than any other metal, and it conducts eletricity better than any other element. However, the reason why we use copper in electrical wires and not silver is because silver tarnishes very easily, and copper does not. This tarnishing of silver would not be valuable for it to be put in electrical wires.
Silver has been an element that has been known about since ancient times. It was valued even back then as a precious metal, one that had ornate beauty and priceless value. I hope that you understand more about this element, and I really hope that you will come to appreciate it as not just a valuable element, but a beautiful element as well.
You can learn interesting facts of silver.
