Silver may be one of the most popular materials in our lives. Of course, we all know silver is very common for producing jewelry and art – but is that it? Here are 10 interesting facts about silver that you may never heard of. Well, it's better later than never, right?
1. Among ALL metals known to humanity, Silver is the best conductor of heat and electricity. That is exactly why it is very common in the tech industry as well (cameras, computers and even our smartphones).
2. In its purest form, silver in mined at 99.9% concentration. This is why pure silver is named 999, but due to it's relatively softness it needs to be mixed with other metals in order to be used in a variety of industries.
3. Different countries adopted different levels of purity to their silver industry. As an example, Great Britain adopted Sterling Silver 925 (which stands for 92.5% purity). The Russian adopted 875 (marked as "84"), Mexicans vary from 800 to 900 or even 980 and Germans are known for 800.
4. World's 5 biggest silver producers are:
Mexico
Peru
China
Russia
Poland
5. Silver was the first metal used to produce coins as a currency.
6. The last time silver was more valuable than gold was in ancient Egypt.
7. One of silver's medical virtues – bacteria cannot develop under the resistance of silver.
8. Never use led to weld a silver piece – it never holds and even rejects future silver welding corrections.
9. The chemical symbol of silver is Ag, which is shortened by its Latin name – 'Argentum'. The Latin word 'Argentum' is derived from the word argunas in ancient Sanskrit, meaning "glowing".
10. Silver’s melting point is 961.8ºC and its boiling point is 2162ºC. Please, do not try this at home.