Silver is one of the precious metals found in the Earth’s crust. It is very famous metal like gold and is known by almost every people living on the Earth. People have been using silver from thousands of years ago. They mostly used silver for making jewelry and artworks.

Silver is classified as a transitional element in the periodic table. It has 47 protons and 60 neutrons in its nucleus. Its symbol is ‘Ag’ which is derived from the Latin word “Argentum”.

• Silver is a white metallic colored, lustrous, and soft metal.
• It is the very good conductor of electricity; better than all the metals.
• It is highly malleable and ductile metal, but lesser than gold.
• It doesn’t react with air. It is corrosion resistant metal.

Silver is the very good conductor of electricity; it is used by electronic industries to build very efficient circuits.

It is used for medical purposes, e.g. used to fill cavities of teeth by dentists.

It is used for making jewelry.

Used for making long lasting batteries (these batteries are expensive).

Photographic industries use silver in its nitrate form

Silver is rare element relative to other  elements. This rarity also makes it the precious metal. It is not a very reactive element, so it found in its pure form and also in some mineral, e.g. argentite. The major silver producing countries are China, Peru, and Mexico.