For thousands of years, people have used the precious white metal to make jewelry, utensils, decorative interior items, coinage. He is beautiful, easy to extract and process, but the list of benefits does not end there.
Silver has a shiny white color, which gives it excellent reflective properties - the reflection coefficient is 95% - so it is used in the manufacture of high quality mirrors instead of aluminum.
Properties of silver
Silver has a high density, which makes it heavy and allows you to make thin foil and wire.
Another undeniable advantage is its exceptional heat - and electrical conductivity - the best of all metals - which has made it virtually indispensable in the chemical industry and in the manufacture of high-tech devices.
- Areas of application and properties.
- Melting point.
- Remelting at home.
From ancient times the people know the disinfectant properties of this metal, which also contributed to its widespread use. Even in ancient Egypt, silver plates were applied to wounds, and in Persia BC the water for the fighting army was kept in silver vessels.
Areas of use of silver
Nowadays, this property is also successfully used by mankind - all sorts of filters for water and air, details in refrigerators, washing machines, medical equipment are made using silver ions.
Amazingly, but silver has found its place in the food industry - it is registered as a food additive E174 and is part of many biologically active substances, although the usefulness of their use is debatable.
Colloidal silver is often credited with preventing colds and flu, and the ability to heal from diabetes, cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, HIV / AIDS, tuberculosis and other truly serious diseases.
However, such a miracle is more of a dream of marketers, since there are no medical studies, which confirm, that colloidal silver is effective in the treatment of any of these diseases.
Nevertheless, the scope of this metal is constantly expanding, alloys and chemical compounds can be found in almost any apartment, and in space as part of parts for satellites and spacecraft.
Of the disadvantages is the property of silver products to fade and darken over time under the influence of moist air. Insoluble plaque is formed on the surface, but we will correct it - cleaning allows to return former shine.
As for the beneficial effects on human health, you need to know moderation and remember everything, that it is a heavy metal, the excess content of which in drinking water is dangerous to health.
It is mostly not used in its pure form, because silver without impurities is quite soft, plastic material. Cadmium is most often found in silver alloys, nickel, zinc and copper. These components make it easier to work with metal and make the final products stronger.
There are many reasons, for which there is a need to melt silver. It may be a desire to make the metal cleaner, so, more expensive, freeing it from impurities.
Or maybe, decided to remelt the ring or cutlery, inherited from an unloved aunt and create a new modern decoration of your own design. In any case, you must first find out, at what temperature silver melts.
Melting point
Silver without additives melts at a temperature of 961.9 ° C, and boil, when the mark reaches 2210?C. It is easier to melt a silver alloy, than a pure metal ingot, as impurities reduce the melting point.
The percentage of silver content is easily recognized by a layman from a sample on the product, example, in the alloy of the 750th sample is contained 75% of this metal. The higher the percentage, the higher the melting point. In Russia, silver with samples is used 750, 800, 875, 916, 925, 960, and 999; for the manufacture of jewelry used 875, 925 and 960 samples.
This material is so easy to handle, that a small amount of it can be melted even at home in the kitchen, using a gas burner.
However, the process is quite dangerous, safety violations can lead to burns and fires, therefore, melting this metal in the apartment is not recommended. If this procedure cannot be avoided, it is necessary to strictly follow safety rules.
Remelting at home
You will need it for melting:
- steel container or refractory sanitary ware;
- gasoline or gas burner;
- form for the final product;
- tongs;
- asbestos sheet.
First of all, you need to heat the red prepared container. When this step is completed, placed inside the silver, better, if it is pre-cut into pieces of approximately the same size, which gradually begins to lose its clear shape, as if to melt.
When the metal is warm enough, if necessary, cleaning, reagents are added, such as nitrate. Further, you have to wait, when the metal is completely melted and begins to "shine" reddish.
Such liquid silver must be used very quickly, until it hardened again. The metal is poured into the prepared form and remains until completely solidified.