This is not a question about purity or otherwise of copper or silver used in i/connects or speaker wire. The question is - if an i/connect or speaker cable is made using oversized FEP or Teflon aka a quasi air dialectric is using bare copper or silver conductors so that upon completion the conductor/s are effectively sealed from the exterior environment what happens to the oxygen trapped within the air cored construction?
Does it degrade into carbon dioxide or some other gas. The reason I want to know is that some solid core silver wire I bought some 10 years or so ago was left in a snap top plastic bag and I saw that the silver had'nt lost it's shine. For some reason or other I removed it from the bag and forgot about it.
After some 4 weeks or so I saw that it had become quite black, I assume silver oxides had formed . I found another same type plastic bag which had bare copper wire and again it was shiny. Again I removed the wire to see if it would show 'stains' of oxidation, it did and eventually I assume would turn quite green.
I recently bought some copper solid core bare wire which came wrapped in cling film, again it has lost none of it's shine. This was not shrink wrapped so there must be some oxygen trapped inside the cling film wrapping.
The only reason I have in the past used silver plated copper was because of the 'received wisdom' of oxidation.
I'm not interested in opinions for or against air cored construction I just want to know what happens to the oxygen inside such an air tight construction. It would appear that the oxygen must convert quickly into something benign that does'nt cause oxidation. Is it carbon dioxide or nitrogen or some other gas?
Does it degrade into carbon dioxide or some other gas. The reason I want to know is that some solid core silver wire I bought some 10 years or so ago was left in a snap top plastic bag and I saw that the silver had'nt lost it's shine. For some reason or other I removed it from the bag and forgot about it.
After some 4 weeks or so I saw that it had become quite black, I assume silver oxides had formed . I found another same type plastic bag which had bare copper wire and again it was shiny. Again I removed the wire to see if it would show 'stains' of oxidation, it did and eventually I assume would turn quite green.
I recently bought some copper solid core bare wire which came wrapped in cling film, again it has lost none of it's shine. This was not shrink wrapped so there must be some oxygen trapped inside the cling film wrapping.
The only reason I have in the past used silver plated copper was because of the 'received wisdom' of oxidation.
I'm not interested in opinions for or against air cored construction I just want to know what happens to the oxygen inside such an air tight construction. It would appear that the oxygen must convert quickly into something benign that does'nt cause oxidation. Is it carbon dioxide or nitrogen or some other gas?
Oxygen is an element and can't be converted into another element such as nitrogen.
Oxygen can react with certain other elements (such as copper or silver) at room temperature to form compounds (such as copper oxide or silver oxide).
Oxygen can react with certain other elements (such as copper or silver) at room temperature to form compounds (such as copper oxide or silver oxide).
P.S. Because the quantity of oxygen in the trapped air dielectric is small, the oxidation of the conductors will not be noticeable.
However, if exposed to the outside atmosphere with its endless supply of oxygen, the conductors will oxidise more heavily.
However, if exposed to the outside atmosphere with its endless supply of oxygen, the conductors will oxidise more heavily.
The black layer formed on exposed silver is not true oxidation, it is a reaction with the sulfur present in the atmosphere.
true...
but oxidation and reduction are reactions which may not involve oxygen
it's a transfer of electron
so oxidation may not need oxygen
hence that black surface on silver is the result of oxidation
but oxidation and reduction are reactions which may not involve oxygen
it's a transfer of electron
so oxidation may not need oxygen
hence that black surface on silver is the result of oxidation
I stand corrected, silver does not react with oxygen in the air under normal circumstances.
It does react slowly with sulphur compounds in the air, however.
It does react slowly with sulphur compounds in the air, however.
You mean there is a silver or copper conductor, wrapped in a teflon protection sleeve with some spacer, so that there is air between the conductor and the sleeve?
The answer is that air is not pure nitrogen and oxygen. There is some pollution like sulphur dioxide that cause tarnishing silver over time. Same with copper. It is not possible to make such construction air tight.
But I found the conductor is always shiny when I remove the plastic insulator from any insulated copper wire, however old it could be.
The answer is that air is not pure nitrogen and oxygen. There is some pollution like sulphur dioxide that cause tarnishing silver over time. Same with copper. It is not possible to make such construction air tight.
But I found the conductor is always shiny when I remove the plastic insulator from any insulated copper wire, however old it could be.
It's all down to the definition of oxidation: 'Oxidation is the loss of electrons during a reaction by a molecule, atom or ion.'
Oxidation (a loss of electrons) can happen in a chemical reaction where no oxygen is involved!
The older meaning of oxidation was when oxygen reacted to form a compound.
According to Collins dictionary, in British-English, oxidation is the reaction to oxygen. However it states that in American-English it can also mean loss of electrons. As this is an American based forum I will concede the point.
Language is ever evolving.
Language is ever evolving.
Anyway, the thread title is about oxygen, not redox reactions, and under normal conditions silver does not react appreciably with atmospheric oxygen
Really? I never knew. I assumed wrongly that the .com was American though I know website suffixes can be pretty loose but also, Aussie members are in a minority.
Back to oxidation - is Ag2S an example of oxidation because the hydrogen is removed from H2S when the S reacts with the Ag?
Back to oxidation - is Ag2S an example of oxidation because the hydrogen is removed from H2S when the S reacts with the Ag?
2Ag + H2S → Ag2S + H2
I'm not a chemist, but I read that it's to do with the transfer of two electrons (one from each of two silver atoms) to one sulphur atom. After this transfer of electrons occurs, the two positive silver ions and the negative sulphur ion stick together to form Ag2S. Since the silver is losing the electrons, it is said to be oxidised.
I'm not a chemist, but I read that it's to do with the transfer of two electrons (one from each of two silver atoms) to one sulphur atom. After this transfer of electrons occurs, the two positive silver ions and the negative sulphur ion stick together to form Ag2S. Since the silver is losing the electrons, it is said to be oxidised.
The Internet was once "American". (US government money.) I remember before DNS, already there were MIL and EDU sites. COM and ORG were hardly seen.
Canada got linked early but was OK with the vast name-space still available. CA came later.
Then packets started swimming over the seas. Other nations were upset that USA outfits had snagged "all the good names". England had the clever idea of CO.UK for COmpanies connected with the UK (but 'theregister.com').
The owner/operator of this site is Australian: Registrant Contact- QUEENSLAND, AU. I have seen a street address and it is a business address in an Australian city. A number of community leaders are Canadian, but not exclusively.
I believe there are three of us Maple leafers, if this is the community of which you speak PRR.
planet10
anatech
Cal Weldon
Previously there were others but those are the currently active ones.
I see we are wandering OT again. My bad.
planet10
anatech
Cal Weldon
Previously there were others but those are the currently active ones.
I see we are wandering OT again. My bad.