Categories
Chemical Reactions

Making silver mirrors using chemistry

This week I was lucky enough to be sent a silvered bottle, shown in the graphic, by Andres Tretiakov. If you’re a chemist you’ll already be familiar with the chemical reaction used to produce this effect, but if you’re not you might be wondering how it’s accomplished. Though sadly it’s not one that can be […]

Categories
Inorganic Chemistry

Removing Tarnish from Silver

Silver tarnishes in air to form a black coating of silver sulphide, which has the formula Ag2S. The chemical equation for the formation of silver tarnish following reaction with hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is as follows: 2 Ag(s) + H2S(g) → Ag2S(s) + H2(g) There’s speculation that, in the present day, tarnishing of silver actually occurs more quickly due […]