Fun Facts about Silver: Did you know?

Do you know your Silver?

Silver gets pushed aside next to gold, but in many ways it outranks its lustrous competition. The cool-toned element of Silver is more conductive and more reflective, and boasts properties absent in other metals, like a reaction with light that put the “silver” in “silver screen.” Read on to find out about some fun facts about silver

 

Fun Fact 1 – Human Use of Silver dates back to 3000 BCE

Archeological records show humans have mined and used silver for at least 5000 years. Silver shows up at ancient mines in Turkey and Greece, as well as in deposits in China, Korea, Japan, and South America. Its visible shine made it popular in jewellery, decorative objects, and practical tools like the aptly named silverware. Its rarity gave it high value. Silver coins are credited with fuelling the rise of classical Athens, and Vikings used “hacksilver”—chunks of silver bullion chopped off a larger block of the metal—as money.

In 1066 A.D. with the Norman Conquest, a metallic currency standard was established in Great Britain with the introduction of pounds, shillings and pence. The pound is literally a pound of sterling silver!

 

Fun Fact 2 – Silver conducts electricity better than any other metal

Of all metals, silver is the best conductor of heat and electricity, so it can be used in a wide variety of applications. Metal solder, electrical parts, printed circuit boards, and batteries have all been made with silver. But it’s expensive: In electrical wiring, copper is often used instead.

 

Fun Fact 3 - Its reactivity to light made early photography possible

Hollywood could never have existed without the chemical reaction that gave celluloid film its ability to capture the stars and bring them to the aptly dubbed silver screen. Photographic prints were created on silver-coated copper plates and silver iodide-coated paper was created for developing exposed images. Approximately a 1/3 of the silver produced today is used in photography.

 

Fun Fact 4 – Researches are exploring Silver’s Anti- microbial properties

Silver was one of the most important anti-microbial tools in use before the discovery of modern antibiotics in the 1940s. Doctors in World War I used silver to prevent infections when suturing battlefield injuries. Silver is toxic to bacteria, but not to humans—unless it’s consumed in large quantities.

A recent study looked into the mechanisms behind silver’s anti-microbial powers. The findings suggested that silver makes bacterial cells more permeable and interferes with their metabolism. When antibiotics were administered with a small amount of silver, the drugs killed between 10 and 1000 times more bacteria than without it. “It’s not so much a silver bullet; more a silver spoon to help [bacteria] take their medicine.

 

Fun Fact 5 – Silver iodide helps make it rain

When regions need rain after a prolonged drought, scientists can seed clouds by spraying silver iodide particles into the atmosphere.

 

Fun Fact 6 – Silver is used as a disinfectant

Silver is a natural biocides are widely used in the food industry as disinfectants and food preservatives. They treat production plants, processing areas and food containers to control the microbial growth in food and drinks.