Question

What is the symbol and valency of silver?

Answer 1

Silver is a chemical element with the atomic number $47$ . It is a soft, white, lustrous transition metal. The element silver exhibits highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and reflectivity. The metal is found in the pure, free elemental form in the Earth’s crust.

Complete answer:
The symbol of the chemical element silver is $Ag$ which is derived from the Latin word argentum meaning shiny or white. The atomic number of silver is $47$ . The electronic configuration of silver is $[{\text{Kr]4}}{{\text{d}}^{10}}{\text{5}}{{\text{s}}^1}$ . The combining capacity of an atom is known as valency. The valency of an element represents the number of bonds that an atom can form as part of a chemical compound. The most common valency of silver metal is $1$ and $3$ . It is similar in its physical and chemical properties to its vertical neighbors in group $11$ of the modern periodic table. The distinctive electronic configuration of silver, with one electron in the highest occupied $s$ subshell is the reason for many of the singular properties of this element. Very high electrical and thermal conductivity are common to elements of group $11$ because their single $s$ electron is free and does not interact with the filled $d$ subshell.
Therefore, the symbol of silver is $Ag$ and the most common valency of silver metal is $1$ and $3$ .

Note:
The chemical oxidation states of silver are: $+ 1$ (the most stable state), $+ 2$ (highly oxidizing) and even very rarely $+ 3$ (extreme oxidizing). The $+ 3$ state requires very strong oxidizing agents such as fluorine or peroxodisulphate.