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What is it and where is it formed? Native
silver is the purest kind of silver. Native silver is a
metal with nothing else added to it. Most silver is found in an
ore combined with a
mineral. It can be found in
igneous and
sedimentary ore like
galena. It is formed in
veins of rock that
have hot water flowing around and through them.
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How and where is it mined? Silver is mined
using
underground mining. Most of the time, silver is found in
ore. The miner's goal might not be to find silver, but to mine
copper,
lead, or zinc. Native Silver is found by itself. Silver has to
be taken out of the ore. First it is crushed, heated until it
melts, combined with something else, and then it have chemicals
injected into it that finally separate it. Silver is mined in
in Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona; Canada, Chile, Peru, Mexico,
and Germany. |
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What is it used for? Silver is used to
make money, jewelry, photography, mirrors, batteries,
silverware, and medical equipment. Because it is so bendable,
it can be made into wires or shaped. |
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![Native [Pure] Silver](images/silver_small.jpg) |
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There are different kinds of silver. Pure
silver is 100% pure. Sterling is 92.5% pure. Britannia is
about 95% pure. |
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Silver conducts heat and electricity very
well.
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Mineral Characteristic |
What the
mineralogists say |
Kid's Guide: What it REALLY
means! |
| Chemical Symbol |
Ag |
It
is on the
Periodic Table of the Elements.
This means that it is the purest form of silver and is
not mixed with anything else. |
| Color |
White or dull gray |
This
metal is a silvery white color unless it tarnishes.
Tarnishing is when silver changes from silvery white to
a dark gray or black because it has come in contact with
air. |
| Streak |
Light silvery gray |
If
you crush silver, its dust will always be a light,
silvery gray. |
| Transparency |
Opaque |
You
can’t see through it and light won’t go through it. |
| Luster |
Metallic |
It
shines like glass. |
| Cleavage |
None |
It
does not break evenly each time it is broken. |
| Fracture |
Jagged |
When
it shatters or breaks, the pieces are sharp and pointy.
The pieces aren’t smooth. |
| Magnetism |
None |
Will
not attract, or be attracted to, a magnet. |
| Hardness |
2.5
- 3 |
It
is a soft metal that can be bent into shapes easily. |
| Specific gravity |
10 -
12 |
It
is a heavy metal. |
| Crystal Shape |
Cubic |
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Even though it isn’t as valuable as gold,
there were Silver Rushes in the Old West. |
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Links:
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Printer
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Citations:
Fuller, Sue. Rocks
& Minerals. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1995.
Pellant, Chris.
Rocks and Minerals.
New York: Dorling
Kindersley, 1992.
“Silver.”
21 Oct. 2005. <http://www.mii.org/Minerals/photosilver.html>.
“Silver.”
21 Oct. 2005. <http://www.minerals.net/gemstone/gemstone/silver/silver.htm>
[This site was available while we were doing research].
"Silver." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia,
Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press., 2003. Answers.com 22 Feb. 2006.
<http://www.answers.com/topic/silver>.
“Silver.” Raintree Illustrated Science Encyclopedia. 1991 ed.
“Silver.” World Book Encyclopedia. 2000 ed.
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![Native [Pure] Silver](images/silver.jpg)