Silver: uses

silver symbol icon

The following uses for silver are gathered from a number of sources as well as from anecdotal comments. I'd be delighted to receive corrections as well as additional referenced uses (please use the feedback mechanism to add uses).

  • Sterling silver is used for jewellery, silverware, etc. where appearance is paramount. This alloy contains 92.5% silver, the remainder is copper or some other metal
  • photography (AgBr)
  • dental alloys
  • solder and brazing alloys
  • electrical contacts
  • high capacity silver-zinc and silver-cadmium batteries
  • silver paints are used for making printed circuits
  • used in mirror production and may be deposited on glass or metals by chemical deposition, electrodeposition, or by evaporation. When freshly deposited, it is the best reflector of visible light known, but it rapidly tarnishes and loses much of its reflectance
  • the iodide is used to seeding clouds to produce rain
  • the nitrate, (lunar caustic) is used extensively in photography
  • coinage metal

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silver atomic number