Precious Silver Mole

by Criselda Garcia

Hi everyone! My name is Precious, and I’m here to tell you how I came to be. I am a pure precious metal and that’s where I got my name, Precious. I am soft, white, and very valuable because of my rarity. I have been known since ancient times and my symbol, Ag on the periodic table, stands for my Latin name "argentum". There are silver ornaments found in the Middle East that date back to about 3500 BC, therefore I am very old. Gold and copper were probably the only metals that people used before me. I am easily shaped due to my soft texture. Also I am the best conductor of heat and electricity. Sometimes I can be found in my solid state in nature, most of the time I’m combined with other metals and nonmetals in mineral ores.

The whitest of all metals, my ability to reflect light better than any other metal enables me to be the best backing material for mirrors. That means I am used on mirrors that collect sunlight, which is then changed to electricity and heat energy. My friend, copper, adds to my beauty and makes me sterling silver. Sterling silver is 92.5% of me and 7.5% copper. "Sterling" is a word used for high-quality silver ever since the 1200’s when England was trying to distinguish their coins from the similar, but better quality coins of Germany. For 173 years the United States made coins containing 90% silver and 10 percent copper until a law in 1965 was passed that stopped the future use of silver in making dimes and quarters. This law also reduced the amount of silver in the half-dollars from 90 to 40 percent. Many old coins are worth more money than it was worth back when they were made.

I mentioned before that I have the ability to conduct electricity. Well, my resistance to corrosion makes me valuable in the electrical and electronic industries. Used for electrical switches, appliances, and for other electronic purposes makes me common. Because of the rising prices of many things made of me, there had to be a substitution of my other younger friend metals in place of me. Some of my other friends are stainless steel, aluminum, and nonprecious metal alloys. In corrosion-resistant batteries, a silver compound is used. Batteries that contained a great amount of silver have been replaced with newer power cells that use the reactions of hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity. I am also used for silver-mercury alloys used by dentists to fill tooth cavities. I help this mixture, along with mercury and tin, remain soft long enough for the dentist to fill the cavity and shape the filling to a tooth. Aircraft engines use a silver alloy because it is moderately hard, conducts heat, and doesn’t combine with iron. I’m used in large quantities for photography and about a third of all silver in the United States goes to photography. Salts of silver makes photographic film light sensitive. The film and the processing use much of me converted to crystalline salts. Good thing I can be reclaimed from solutions and be reused. Speaking of mixtures and other solutions a number comes to mind: 6.02 x 10Î 2 3 . This is Avogadro’s number and it is also known as a mole. This makes the gram atomic mass of any element contain that same number of atoms of that element as there are atoms in the gram atomic mass of any other element. It means that since my atomic mass is 107.9 grams it is equal to 1 gram atomic mass of silver. So as confusing as it may be, 1 mole of silver is equal to 107.9 grams which is also equal to 6.02 x 10Î 23 atoms. My atomic mass and the atomic mass of any of my element buddies will never change. A mole is similar to the word a dozen where the word a dozen can mean 12 of anything and a mole refers to 6.02 x 10Î 23 of anything.

I have to mention that I am used to make things of considerable value. I am beautiful and useful tableware. Like many things, they have been so expensive that for years there were attempts to make cheaper substitutes for it. In 1742 a substitute for sterling silver became silver-clad copper. It was known as Sheffield plate because it was made in Sheffield, England. It was used to make buttons, coffeepots, and candlesticks. Now commonly used is electroplated silver. In electroplating, silver and cheaper metals are placed in a chemical solution and when an electric current passes through the solution, silver gradually coats the metal object. I am also used to purify water, keep flowers fresh, and prevent the growth of bacteria. As you can tell, I am one of the many important elements that make up everyday common things.