25th Year - Silver Jubilee

Silver is produced from lighter elements in the Universe through the r-process, a form of nuclear fusion believed to take place during certain types ofsupernova explosions. This produces many elements heavier than iron, of which silver is one.

Silver is a very ductile, malleable (slightly harder thangold), monovalent coinage metal, with a brilliant white metallic luster that can take a high degree of polish. It has the highest electrical conductivity of all metals, even higher than copper, but its greater cost has prevented it from being widely used in place of copper for electrical purposes. An exception to this is in radio-frequency engineering, particularly at VHF and higher frequencies, where silver plating to improve electrical conductivity of parts, including wires, is widely employed. During World War IIin the US, 13,540 tons were used in the electromagnets used for enriching uranium, mainly because of the wartime shortage of copper.

Silver is stable in pure air and water, but tarnishes when it is exposed to air or water containing ozone or hydrogen sulfide, the latter forming a black layer of silver sulfide which can be cleaned off with dilute hydrochloric acid.