<P> The major use of silver besides coinage throughout most of history was in the manufacture of jewellery and other general - use items, and this continues to be a major use today . Examples include table silver for cutlery, for which silver is highly suited due to its antibacterial properties . Western concert flutes are usually plated with or made out of sterling silver; in fact, most silverware is only silver - plated rather than made out of pure silver; the silver is normally put in place by electroplating . Silver - plated glass (as opposed to metal) is used for mirrors, vacuum flasks, and Christmas tree decorations . </P> <P> Because pure silver is very soft, most silver used for these purposes is alloyed with copper, with finenesses of 925 / 1000, 835 / 1000, and 800 / 1000 being common . One drawback is the easy tarnishing of silver in the presence of hydrogen sulfide and its derivatives . Including precious metals such as palladium, platinum, and gold gives resistance to tarnishing but is quite costly; base metals like zinc, cadmium, silicon, and germanium do not totally prevent corrosion and tend to affect the lustre and colour of the alloy . Electrolytically refined pure silver plating is effective at increasing resistance to tarnishing . The usual solutions for restoring the lustre of tarnished silver are dipping baths that reduce the silver sulfide surface to metallic silver, and cleaning off the layer of tarnish with a paste; the latter approach also has the welcome side effect of polishing the silver concurrently . </P> <P> In medicine, silver is incorporated into wound dressings and used as an antibiotic coating in medical devices . Wound dressings containing silver sulfadiazine or silver nanomaterials are used to treat external infections . Silver is also used in some medical applications, such as urinary catheters (where tentative evidence indicates it reduces catheter - related urinary tract infections) and in endotracheal breathing tubes (where evidence suggests it reduces ventilator - associated pneumonia). The silver ion is bioactive and in sufficient concentration readily kills bacteria in vitro . They interfere with enzymes in the bacteria that transport nutrients, form structures, synthesise cell walls, and bond with the bacteria's genetic material . Microbes cannot develop resistance to silver as they can to antibiotics, and hence silver and silver nanoparticles are used as an antimicrobial in a variety of industrial, healthcare, and domestic application: for example, infusing clothing with nanosilver particles thus allows them to stay odourless for longer . Silver compounds are taken up by the body like mercury compounds, but lack the toxicity of the latter . Silver and its alloys are used in cranial surgery to replace bone, and silver--tin--mercury amalgams are used in dentistry . Silver diammine fluoride, the fluoride salt of a coordination complex with the formula (Ag (NH)) F, is a topical medicament (drug) used to treat and prevent dental caries (cavities) and relieve dentinal hypersensitivity . </P> <P> Silver is very important in electronics for conductors and electrodes on account of its high electrical conductivity even when tarnished . Bulk silver and silver foils were used to make vacuum tubes, and continue to be used today in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, circuits, and their components . For example, silver is used in high quality connectors for RF, VHF, and higher frequencies, particularly in tuned circuits such as cavity filters where conductors cannot be scaled by more than 6% . Printed circuits and RFID antennas are made with silver paints, Powdered silver and its alloys are used in paste preparations for conductor layers and electrodes, ceramic capacitors, and other ceramic components . </P>

Is a silver spoon an element or compound