Silver (Ag)

Silver (symbol Ag) is the chemical element with atomic number 47: a transition metal, solid at 0 °C, with an atomic mass of 107.87 u. Known since antiquity.

Silver is the metal that best conducts electricity and heat, and the one that best reflects light. Money and jewelry for millennia, it is now above all an industrial metal, in high demand for solar panels. In French, its name, argent, also means money.

Key facts

Atomic number: 47
Symbol: Ag
French name: Argent
Atomic mass: 107.87 u
Molar mass: 107.87 g/mol
Family: Transition metals
Position: period 5, group 11, d-block
State at 0 °C: Solid
Melting point: 961.8 °C
Boiling point: 2,161.9 °C
Density: 10.49 g/cm³
Electronegativity (Pauling): 1.93
First ionization energy: 731 kJ/mol
Atomic radius: 160 pm
Electron configuration: [Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s¹
Abundance in Earth's crust: 0.075 ppm (68th most abundant element)
Indicative price: 520 $/kg (order of magnitude)
Radioactive: no
Discovery: Antiquity

Origin of the name

From the Old English seolfor; the symbol Ag comes from the Latin argentum.

What does silver look like?

A dazzling, very shiny white metal, malleable and ductile. It blackens over time as it becomes coated with silver sulfide on contact with sulfur compounds in the air.

Where is silver found?

About 0.075 ppm of Earth's crust. It sometimes occurs in native form, but comes mostly from lead, zinc, copper and gold ores, of which it is a by-product.

Natural sources

Acanthite (argentite)
Native silver
Chlorargyrite
Proustite
Pyrargyrite
Argentiferous galena

How is silver produced?

About 25,000 tonnes of silver are mined each year, nearly three-quarters of it as a by-product of other metals. Mexico is by far the top producer, with about 6,000 tonnes a year. Recycling provides a large share of supply.

Top producers

Mexico
China
Peru
Chile
Poland
Bolivia

What is silver used for?

Electrical contacts, solders and electronics.
Conductive paste in photovoltaic panels.
Jewelry, silversmithing and tableware.
Investment coins and bars.
Antibacterial treatments (dressings, textiles).
Mirrors and reflective glazing.

In everyday life

Silver cutlery and jewelry
Rooftop solar panel
Silver wound dressing
Computer keyboard and switches (contacts)

Role in living things

No essential role. Silver ions kill many bacteria, hence its antiseptic uses. Long-term ingestion of silver salts or colloidal silver can cause argyria, an irreversible blue-gray discoloration of the skin.

Hazards of silver

The metal is harmless, but its soluble salts are toxic to aquatic life. Silver nitrate burns the skin and stains it black.

Cosmic origin

Neutron stars: Created when two neutron stars collide — the “forge” of gold.
Dying stars: Made slowly in red giants (stars like the Sun at the end of their lives).

History of silver

Mined for at least 5,000 years, silver has shaped history: the mines of Laurion funded the Athenian fleet that won at Salamis in 480 BC, and the mountain of Potosí, in Bolivia, flooded Europe with silver in the 16th century. Its symbol Ag comes from the Latin argentum.

Did you know?

Argentina is named after silver: explorers hoped to find a “sierra de plata” (mountain of silver) there.
Film photography relies on silver salts that darken in light.
Silver isn't used for power cables despite its record conductivity because copper, almost as good, is about a hundred times cheaper.

Isotopes of silver

Two stable isotopes in near-equal shares, silver-107 and silver-109. Silver-110m forms inside nuclear reactors.

silver-107: 51.839% of natural silver, stable
silver-108m: radioactive, half-life 438 years
silver-109: 48.161% of natural silver, stable
silver-110m: radioactive, half-life 250 days. Activation product monitored in nuclear power plant discharges.
silver-111: radioactive, half-life 7.45 days

Related elements

Same family (transition metals): Scandium (Sc), Titanium (Ti), Vanadium (V), Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), Cobalt (Co), Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Yttrium (Y), Zirconium (Zr), Niobium (Nb), Molybdenum (Mo), Technetium (Tc), Ruthenium (Ru), Rhodium (Rh), Palladium (Pd), Cadmium (Cd), Hafnium (Hf), Tantalum (Ta), Tungsten (W), Rhenium (Re), Osmium (Os), Iridium (Ir), Platinum (Pt), Gold (Au), Mercury (Hg), Rutherfordium (Rf), Dubnium (Db), Seaborgium (Sg), Bohrium (Bh), Hassium (Hs).

Same column (group 11): Copper (Cu), Gold (Au), Roentgenium (Rg).