Question

It was Paheli’s birthday. Her grandmother gave her two gifts made of metals, one old dull silver spoon and a pair of lustrous gold earrings. She was surprised to see the difference in the appearance of the two metals. Can you explain the reason for this difference?

Answer 1

Answer:

Since the silver metal was old it would have been subjected to exposure to oxygen leading to oxidisation of silver. Oxidized silver tends to appear dull since the oxidized layer is dull and dark.

Explanation:

This phenomenon is commonly referred as rusting.( Although commonly used for iron). The metal reacts to different components present in air, the one majorly being oxygen. So since the silver is old and the earrings being new, and polished, shines while the spoon does not.