Silver FulminateCharacteristics and usage of this precious metal

compound

Silver Uses and Compounds

• On its own, silver has anti-microbial properties that make it useful for creating sterile equipment or environments. • It finds use in the medical setting preventing

infections – saving lives.

• In the chemistry lab, silver can be altered to create many different compounds that have other uses. In this presentation, we’ll go over silver fulminate.

Creating Silver Fulminate

• When silver metal is dissolved in nitric acid, the result is silver nitrate. • Silver nitrate is actually a common starting point for

creating many other compounds.

• When silver nitrate is mixed with ethanol, it creates silver fulminate.

Properties of Silver Fulminate

• Silver fulminate is an extremely sensitive and volatile.

• Any of the following can set off silver fulminate:• Heat

• Pressure

• Electricity (including static discharge from clothing)

• Impact (a feather brushing it, a water droplet falling on it, moving it, etc.)

• More silver fulminate (silver fulminate will detonate from the stress of its own weight if it exceeds a few milligrams)

Uses for Silver Fulminate

• Since it can’t be easily transported or produced in mass quantities, applications for silver fulminate are extremely limited.

• Because of those factors, silver fulminate is chiefly used to produce bang-snaps – the teardrop-shaped paper firecrackers that are popular with kids during New Year’s and the Fourth of July.

Bang-Snap Ingredients

• The average bang-snap is made with about 200 milligrams of gravel, impregnated with about 0.08 milligrams of silver fulminate.

• Even though silver fulminate is a dangerous compound on its own, the bang-snap’s construction renders it harmless.

Gravel to Silver Fulminate Ratio

• One bang-snap contains about 2500% more gravel than silver fulminate.

• This inert-to-explosive mass ratio buffers the violent detonation of the silver fulminate to make it non-destructive.

Silver Fulminate Appreciation

• The next time you're playing with bang-snaps -remember the greater potential power they represent and the chemistry that makes it possible!

About MGS

Manhattan Gold & Silver (MGS) is a precious metals refiner that has been based in Manhattan’s historic Diamond District since 1985. We are a B2B company that buys and recycles precious metal scraps that accumulate in other businesses.

We serve: • Jewelers• Pawnbrokers• Dentists• The industrial sector• Antique dealers• Machinists • Domestic mining• And more!

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