THE 9 MOST COMMON USES OF SILVER - CHEMISTRY - 2025

The uses of silver are hundreds, especially in industrial, commercial and even personal processes. Its resistance to corrosion makes it ideal for making special containers or for coating other metals.

Silver is a grayish-white metal. It is a chemical element that appears with the number 11 in the periodic table and has an atomic number of 47. It comes from the Latin “argentum” which means white or bright.

It is one of the seven metals that has been counted since ancient times, being mentioned in the book of Genesis. In the islands of the Aegean Sea, they indicate that silver began to be separated from lead four millennia before our era.

Among its most prominent characteristics we have that it is white, bright, soft, malleable and ductile. It is very common to find it in nature. Silver is a by-product obtained from the processing of copper, zinc, lead and gold.

From a chemical point of view it is a very heavy metal and from a commercial point of view it is a very precious metal for its value.

It is estimated that 70% of silver production is used in industrial activities and the other 30% in monetary activities, a good part also being used in goldsmithing. However, its main uses occur in the photographic, chemical, medical and electronic industries.

What are the uses of silver?

1- Electricity

In electronics it is used very often for its high conductivity. In integrated circuits and computer keyboards it is common to find silver.

Silver is similarly used to generate high speed, excellent conductivity electronic components and semiconductor cables. Diesel locomotives have pure silver contacts that help generate electricity.

2- Photography

Silver is necessary for the process of developing the photographs due to its sensitivity to light, especially because it contains bromide and iodide.

3- Medicine

Although it is a toxic material, it is used for topical application. An example is silver nitrate that is poured onto the skin to remove warts.

4- Coins

One of its most common and ancient uses can be seen in coins (approximately from 700 BC).

Gold and silver alloys were used first, then pure silver. There are still countries that use silver to mint coins, although most use nickel because of the high value that silver has acquired in the last 200 years.

5- Jewelry

This is one of the most famous uses of silver. Jewelry such as rings, chains, bracelets, anklets, earrings, and silver piercings are made every year.

Traditional jewelry has silver as one of its main materials for making all kinds of jewelry.

6- Alloys

In many industrial tasks it is necessary to allocate silver with other metals to make them harder and more conductive.

It is common to find alloys of silver with lead or thallium to cover pieces of the aeronautical industry or also to reinforce dental pieces.

It is also often alloyed for soldering and producing electrical contacts. An elemental material for electric batteries is precisely the alloy of silver with zinc.

7- Catalyst

It is good to avoid oxidation reactions. An example is the production of formaldehyde from methanol and oxygen.

8- Computing

Compounds consisting mainly of silver are used in the manufacture of computers to join the microprocessor board to the base of the heatsink. This cools the processor.

9- Edged weapons

Also known as melee weapons, knives, swords, spears and arrowheads are still made that are made mainly of silver.

Silver is also used to make highly reflective mirrors. These mirrors are not very common because the ones that people usually have in their homes are made of aluminum and sand. Traditionally with silver, decorative inlays have been made to mirrors.

In medicine, some antiseptics are made from silver. This is the case of the dilute solution of silver nitrate (AgNO3), which is used as an antiseptic and bactericide; The type of silver used to make this solution is known as colloidal silver.

Previously, when retro-projection of films with tape existed, silver was used to be able to reveal the light of the film. And is that silver halides are sensitive to light and were essential to be able to shoot the film with the correct colors and shades.

In times of drought, silver was used together with other chemical components to bombard the clouds and make it rain.

However, this option has been restricted because experts say that carrying out this action is harmful to planet earth, since the introduction of these chemical agents deforms the normal functioning of nature.

In general, silver is found in the environment, in low concentrations of water. The indiscriminate use of silver in the environment includes a series of physical and chemical changes in it, since its soluble compound can react to a variety of substances such as chemical and organic elements in water.

If we talk about humans, silver can be just as lethal depending on how it is used. Previously we said that it is accepted as silver nitrate for topical use, that is, the skin. But if we talk about silver inside the body it can be really lethal.

The soluble salt compounds that come from silver in a concentration of 2g can be deadly if ingested. Associated damages range from pigmentation of the skin and wear to the cornea of ​​the eye, to death from poisoning. Just being exposed to its vapors causes dizziness, suffocation, drowsiness, vomiting, diarrhea and even a coma.

References

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