Photography and electronics

Photography used 30.98% of the silver consumed in 1998 in the form of silver nitrate and silver halides. In 2001, 23.47% was used for photography, while 20.03% was used in jewelry, 38.51% for industrial uses, and only 3.5% for coins and medals. The use of silver in photography has rapidly declined, due to the lower demand for consumer color film from the advent of digital technology, since in 2007 of the 894.5 million ounces of silver in supply, just 128.3 million ounces (14.3%) were consumed by the photographic sector, and the total amount of silver consumed in 2007 by the photographic sector compared to 1998 is just 50%.^[17]

Some electrical and electronic products use silver for its superior conductivity, even when tarnished. For example, printed circuits can be made using silver paints,^[6] and computer keyboards use silver electrical contacts. Some high-end audio hardware (DACs, preamplifiers, etc.) are fully silver-wired, which is believed to cause the least loss of quality in the signal. Silver

Electrolytically refined silver crystal.

cadmium oxide is used in high voltage contacts because it can withstand arcing.

During World War II the short supply of copper brought about the government's use of silver from the Treasury vaults for conductors at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (After the war ended the silver was returned to the vaults.)^[18]

Small devices such as hearing aids and watches commonly use Silver oxide batteries due to their long life and high energy/weight ratio. Another usage are high-capacity silver-zinc and silver-cadmium batteries.

[edit] Mirrors and optics