You are given a sample of a silvery metal. What information would you seek to prove the metal is silver?

Question

Please answer this chemistry question with as much detail as you can.

Answer 1

One physical test you could use is to measure the density of

the metal.  Silver has a density of 10.5 grams per cu. cm.

which is fairly heavy.  If you have a furnace that will get hot

enough you could check its melting point; silver melts at

961°C.  For a chemical test, you could see if nitric acid

reacts with the metal.  Nitric acid reacts slowly with silver to

form silver nitrate solution.  Adding sodium chloride to the

solution will form a white precipitate of silver chloride, which

is soluble in ammonium hydroxide.  Also, the white silver

chloride will blacken on exposure to bright light.

These tests should confirm if the metal is silver.

Answer 2

You could check the density by placing it in a graduated cylinder, or other container with volume measurement on the side, and seeing how much water it displaces, thereby figuring out the volume the object takes up. You would then weigh it. Taking the volume and weight of the object you can calulate the density by dividing the weight by the volume. Then compare this result to the density of silver. Or if you have access to a mass spectrometer you can use that to easily determine the chemical composition of the object in question.