Some Fascinating Facts About Silver
Some Fascinating Facts About Silver
Have you ever wondered why Silver is considered one of the best precious metals for jewelry and other purposes since its inception? This article is all about letting you know about the significance of silver from jewelry to utensils and coins. Silver is a highly adaptable and worthy precious metal that has been used for a variety of purposes throughout the world for a long time. It has its use in medicine as well as photography and everything you can look for in between. Silver jewelry has been in use for many centuries. The popular form of silver is undoubtedly silver jewelry. But sometimes, it’s not all about jewelry! Do you know what led to the discovery of silver? Do you know where did silver come from? Or what is the logic behind its name? All of these interesting mysteries about your favorite precious metal are going to be solved by just reading this article. There are some fascinating facts relating to silver that probably you have been missing out on. If you’re curious to know about some ‘silver’ facts, this article will provide you the relevant information.
So, let’s get started and gain some knowledge about this precious metal:
According to archeological studies, human beings have been extracting silver from the mines for almost 5000 years. The word ‘silver’ is derived from ‘seolfor’ which is an Anglo-Saxon term. It is impossible to find a rhyming word to silver in the English Language. Silver has an atomic number 47 and an atomic weight of 107.8682.
The Egyptians, in ancient time, valued silver much more higher than gold.
It was one of the five elements first discovered namely, gold, lead, iron, copper, and silver which dates back to mining from over 6000 years.
It shows its divinity with a mention in the Bible. Ancient civilizations always believed that Silver jewelry is associated with some special magical powers. Their belief that the metal has healing powers, brings in good fortune, and ward off evil spirits is still considered true and people believe in them too.
The countries with high amounts of silver are Russia, the US, Canada, and Australia most of which is found as a subsidiary product or a by-product of lead, copper, and zinc mining. Today, the majority of world’s silver can now be found in Peru and Mexico.
Often, silver is put to use in mirrors, solar cells, and telescopes because of its reflective characteristics. A polished slveir can reflect more than 90% of the light spectrum that is witnessed from naked eyes. Although, silver is not able to reflect the harmful ultraviolet rays.
Also Read: Silver Anklets: Adorning Your Beautiful Feet Every day
Have you ever given a thought as to how this metal serves a variety of purposes? It is by its conducting characteristics that allow heat and electricity to pass through it in all directions. Silver is placed at 100 on a scale of 0 to 100 based on electrical connectivity. Hence, it is the best electrical conductor of all the elements ever known. It has set such standards that it now serves as the basis to determine the conducting abilities of other elements also and all the other elements are measured upon it. As earlier mentioned, it is the only element in the world that secures 100% conductivity, followed by the next closest copper element having a conductivity of 97%.
Silver has the lowest contact resistance and is considered the best thermal conductor of all the known metals.
It is sometimes used in making electrical contacts, solder, and printed circuit boards. Sterling silver, which is an alloy of two or more metals with the primary metal being 92.5% Silver and the remaining 7.5% as other metals. The other metals used are usually copper, and others that could be included are nickel and zinc. Sterling silver is the most popular silver type for preparing jewelry, decorative items, silverware, silver sculptures, etc.
Mankind did not take much time to discover this precious metal. Humans acquired the techniques and skills to separate between silver and lead back in 3000 BC. Silver was amongst the first metals to be discovered.
Presently, the New World is the major source of silver. Mexico is accountable for the majority of the world’s silver. There are other countries such as Peru, the United States, Australia, and Russia that export silver in bulk quantities. Approximately, 67 percent of this metal is a result of the by-product of copper, zinc, and lead mining.
Silver is a hard metal that can not be used in its raw form. Thus, it is used in jewelry in the form of silver earrings and other accessories to make it useable. Sterling silver is one of the popular forms of silver. With time, the popularity of sterling silver earrings is rising significantly. Sterling silver comprises 92.5 percent of silver with 7.5 percent other metals such as copper and nickel.
Also Read: Tips To Buy Wholesale 925 Sterling Silver Jewellery
The production of the first pictures with this metal took place in 1720 by Johann Heinrich Schulze, a German physicist. The physicist came to a unique discovery that on exposure to sunlight, white chalk soaked in silver nitrate changes its basic color to black. This fact was enough for him to generate early photography. He then experimented with a glass jar in which he placed a blend of chalk and silver nitrate. Over the same jar, he placed multiple stencils. It didn’t come as a surprise when the stencil letters got engraved on the piece of chalk.
So these were the most famous and fascinating mysteries and facts about the New Gold - Silver. Besides all these facts and folklore, Silver never stops to impress, be it in jewelry or any other form, it steals away your heart and skips your beat. Aren’t these facts enough to buy either silver earrings or silver sterling earrings? Immediately, get your hands on the trendy and elegant pieces of silver jewelry from online jewelry stores.
I hope, you liked these facts. In case of any query or assistance, feel free to connect with us!