Silver
Real Metals · Uncommon · Timeless
Second only to gold in its cultural significance, silver has served as currency, medicine, and symbol across civilizations. Its extraordinary reflectivity and antimicrobial properties made it practical as well as beautiful.
Identity
- Symbol
- Ag
- Atomic number
- 47
- Source
- Natural element
- Used in
- Electrum, Sterling Silver
- Aliases
- Argentum, Ag
Physical Properties
- Appearance
- Brilliant white-grey, highest reflectivity of any metal, tarnishes black in sulfur environments
- Luster
- Metallic
- Density
- 10.49 g/cm³
- Melting point
- 962 °C
- Boiling point
- 2162 °C
- Lighter
- Sterling Silver
- Denser
- Divine Bronze of Hephaestus
- Magnetism
- Non-magnetic
- Electrical conductivity
- Very High
Mechanical Properties
- Mohs hardness
- 2.5
- Tensile strength
- 170 MPa
- Softer
- Tin
- Harder
- Brass
- Workability
- Easy
- Brittleness
- Tough
- Malleability
- Very High
- Ductility
- Very High
Chemical Properties
- Corrosion resistance
- high
- Reactivity
- low
Lore & Narrative
In folklore across dozens of cultures, silver is the metal of purity and protection, effective against werewolves, vampires, witches and evil spirits. This may trace to its genuine antimicrobial properties, observed empirically long before germ theory.
- Notable uses
- Currency, jewelry, photography, electronics, antimicrobial applications
- Forge uses
- coinage, jewelry, cutlery, ritual objects
- Worldbuilding traits
- purifying, antimicrobial, reflective, folkloric
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