Introduction: Make Your Own Silver

About: Brain of an Engineer, Heart of an Artist. I love building creative tech!

Hello makers! In this Instructable we will be extracting our own silver from SILVER NITRATE. Well doing this costs more money than buying silver from the jewellery shop still you can gift it to your loved ones as a lifetime memory. This project demonstrates chemistry of decomposition of silver nitrate to silver.

Handling Silver nitrate is dangerous. It leaves black stains on hands if exposed. Caution should be exercised while handling.

Snapchat and Instagram: @chitlangesahas

I'd love to connect with you guys on Snapchat and Instagram, I document the experience, learning lessons and also answer questions on those platforms. Looking forward to connect! Here is my username for both: @chitlangesahas


Snapcode

Step 1: Watch the Video

Step 2: Get Silver Nitrate Into the Test Tube and Heat

Take about a gram of silver nitrate in a borosil test tube, heat it over the torch and wait.

The reaction goes
2 AgNO3 → 2 Ag(s) + O2(g) + 2 NO2(g)

Step 3: Brown Gas...

let the brown gas escape ... and collect the residue on a heat proof bed. I used a plaster of paris bed..

Step 4: Heat the Residue From the Tube

Collect the brown material in the tube, this is actually silver. heat it until it forms a shiny ball. This process actually burns any impurity present.


Step 5: Remove the Silver

If you used the POP base you will find that the molten silver gets into the crevices and embeds there. So , hit it with some hammer to release the silver ball.

Step 6: You Are Done

Congratulation ! You have just extracted silver in your home.