Silver Questions

Silver is abundant in nature, although its total amount is insignificant when compared to other metals,it makes up 0.05 part per million of the Earth’s crust. Silver is one of the so-called precious metals, along with gold and the platinum metals. Silver has long been employed in the creation of coins, ornaments, and jewellery due to its relative rarity, dazzling white colour, malleability, ductility, and resistance to air oxidation.Silver is one of the noblest transition elements, meaning it is the least chemically reactive.

Silver Chemistry Questions with Solutions

Q-1: The chemical formula of a chlorargyrite?

1. AgCl
2. AgNO₃
3. Ag₂SO₄
4. Ag₂S

Answer: a) AgCl

Explanation: Horn silver, also known as chlorargyrite, is a silver chloride mineral that is mostly polished by desert wind and dust. The mineral’s appearance resembles that of a cow horn, hence the name “horn silver.” Chlorargyrite is classified as an isothermic-hexoctahedral crystal. It is naturally water insoluble.

Q-2: The symbol for silver is ”Ag,” which stands for the word “Argentum” . What does argentum mean?

1. Shiny
2. Fireworks
3. Light
4. Shimmer

Answer: a) Shiny

Explanation: Silver’s Latin name, argentum, is most likely referring to the metal’s lustre(shininess).

Q-3: Name the metal:

1. Placed just below mercury in the reactive series
2. Present in pyrargyrite
3. Present in German silver

Answer:

a) Silver is placed just below mercury in the reactive series.

b) Pyrargyrite is also another name for ruby silver. It’s an ore of silver with chemical formula Ag₂S.Sb₂S₃.

c) German silver is a copper, zinc, and nickel alloy with trace amounts of lead and tin.

Q-4: How would you demonstrate that silver is less reactive chemically than copper?

Answer: There will be no reaction when silver is immersed in a copper sulphate solution. This is because silver cannot displace copper from copper sulphate as it has lower reactivity than copper.

Q-5: A method used to remove lead present in silver is

1. Froth Flotation process
2. Cupellation
3. Distillation
4. Leaching

Answer: b) Cupellation

Explanation: Cupellation is used to eliminate lead impurities from silver. Cupellation is a refining process that involves heating ores or alloyed metals to high temperatures in order to extract noble metals present in the ore.

Q-6: What are the properties of silver?

Answer: The properties of silver are:

1. Silver is a white, glossy,and gentle metal.
2. It is a good conductor of heat and electricity.
3. It is very ductile, malleable and not a very chemically active metal.
4. It does not oxidise in air, but rather interacts with hydrogen sulphide to generate silver sulphide (tarnish).
5. It is very stable in water.

6.Silver is usually generally monovalent in its compounds, however divalent silver oxides, fluorides, and sulphides have been discovered.

Q-7: What role does silver play in soldering and brazing?

Answer: Silver’s great tensile strength and flexibility are used in brazing and soldering to produce joints between two metal components. Temperatures above 600°C are used for brazing, whereas temperatures below 600°C are used for soldering. Because these techniques do not require particularly pure silver, silver scrap can be utilised in brazing and soldering. From heating and air conditioning vents to plumbing, brazing and soldering make tight junctions.

Q-8: Silver of ___________ purity is used in electronics.

1. 95%
2. 99.99%
3. 25%
4. 75%

Answer: b) 99.99%

Q-9: Write the chemical symbols of metal(s) which are used for

1. Engine bearings
2. For decorating sweet dishes.

Answer:

a) Ag

b) Au and Ag

Q-10: Fill in the blanks

1. ___________ property has given silver a place in film photography.
2. Silver’s reflectivity gave it another role in ________ and ________ energy.
3. Silver acts as a chemical to produce _______ and ______ two important chemicals in chemistry.
4. Sterling silver contains ________ % of silver.
5. A small silver coin of ancient Rome is called______

Answers:

1. Photosensitivity
2. Solar, nuclear
3. Formaldehyde, ethylene oxide
4. 92,5%
5. Denarius

Q-11: Calculate the mass of an atom of Ag.

Answer:

Weight of 6.022× 10²³ atoms in Ag= 108 g

Weight of 1 atom = (108/6.022× 10²³) g

= 1.8 × 10^-22 g

Q-12: The correct electronic configuration of silver is

1. [Kr] 4d⁹ 5s²
2. [Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s¹
3. [Ar] 3d⁹ 4s¹
4. [Xe] 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6s¹

Answer: b) [Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s¹

Q-13: What are the two key isotopes of Ag?

Answer: Silver (Ag) has two stable isotopes: ¹⁰⁷Ag and ¹⁰⁹Ag, with ¹⁰⁷Ag being the more abundant (51.839 percent natural abundance)

Q-14: The chemical formula of potassium argentocyanide is

1. KAg(CN)₃
2. K₂Ag(CN)₂
3. KAg(CN)₂
4. KAg₂(CN)

Answer: c) KAg(CN)₂

Q-15: The electrolyte used to electroplate silver onto an object is:

A) Solution of silver nitrate

B) Sodium sulphate solution

C) Silver cyanide solution

D) Sodium argentocyanide solution

Answer: D) Sodium argentocyanide solution

Explanation: Electroplating is a process in which there is a deposition of a metal on the other surface.

There is a very quick flow of degraded silver ions in the silver nitrate solution and the silver cyanide solution, both of which have an oxidation state of silver of +1. The unequal composition of the plates formed on an article is the outcome of this fast-slow process.

The passage of silver ions via an electrolytic solution of sodium argentocyanide solution is very sluggish, allowing for even electroplating of silver on an article.

Practise Questions on Silver

Q-1: What is the significance of leaching in extraction of silver?

Q-2: Which property of AgNPs( silver nanoparticles) make it suitable for food packaging?

1. High tensile strength
2. Antibiotic
3. Antimicrobial
4. High melting point

Q-3: How do silver nanoparticles make their way to the environment?

Q-4: Calculate the relative atomic mass of silver, which is 52 percent silver-107 and 48 percent silver -109 in nature.

Q-5: Is silver harmful to humans?

Click the PDF to check the answers for Practice Questions.
Download PDF