Silver is the metallic shade resembling gray, closest to that of polished silver.
The visual sensation usually associated with the metal silver is its metallic shine. This cannot be reproduced by a simple solid color, because the shiny effect is due to the material's brightness varying with the surface angle to the light source. In addition, there is no mechanism for showing metallic or fluorescent colors on a computer without resorting to rendering software which simulates the action of light on a shiny surface. Consequently in art one would normally use a metallic paint that glitters like real silver. A matte grey color like the swatch on this page would not be considered silver.
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[edit] History
The first recorded use of silver as a color name in English was in 1481.[1]
[edit] Color definitions
[edit] Web color silver
| Silver | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Hex triplet | #C0C0C0 | |
| sRGBB | (r, g, b) | (192, 192, 192) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (--°, 0%, 75%) |
| Source | HTML/CSS[2] | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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Since version 3.2 of HTML "silver" is a name for one of the 16 basic-VGA-colors.
[edit] Pale silver
| Pale silver | ||
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| Hex triplet | #C9C0BB | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (201, 192, 187) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (0°, 0%, 80%) |
| Source | Crayola | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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Pale silver is the color called silver in Crayola crayons. It is not a neutral grayscale color, but is a warm gray with an extremely slight tone of orange-red.
[edit] Silver in nature
[edit] Minerals
- Many metals are silver colored and good conductors and reflectors because of the relatively free electrons in the outer electron shells of their atoms. Silver is the best electrical conductor.[3]
[edit] Plants
- A silver birch is a tree in the birch family. The leaves are whitish silver on underside.
- A silver fir is a valuable timber tree that originated in Europe.[4]
- A silver maple is characterized by lacy, delicate leaves that are lighter grayish-green on the underside. These trees get their name from the shimmering effect the two-toned leaves give when fluttering in a breeze.
[edit] Animals
- A silverfish is an insect which may eat paper or cloth.[4]
- Many fish are colored silver.
- A silver fox is a "genetically determined phase of the common red fox in which the pelt is black tipped with white".[4]
[edit] In human culture
- The expression "every cloud has a silver lining" is used to point out that something good can often come out of even a bad situation.
- The expression "silver-tongued" refers to a person who possesses the power of fluent, persuasive, eloquent and/or witty speech.
- Andy Warhol dyed his hair silver for many years.
- The Chinese name Silver River (銀河) is used throughout East Asia, including Korea and Japan to denote the Milky Way Galaxy (An alternative name for the Milky Way in ancient China, especially in poems, is "Heavenly Han River"(天汉).). In Japanese, "Silver River" (銀河 ginga) means galaxies in general and the Milky Way is called the "Silver River System" (銀河系 gingakei) or the "River of Heaven" (天の川 Amanokawa or Amanogawa).
- Silver is one of two school colors of Christopher Newport University
- The silver screen is a poetic name for a motion picture screen.
- Science fiction films often show spaceship or starship crews wearing silver body suits. In the song Science Fiction/Double Feature in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, it is mentioned that Flash Gordon wore silver underwear: Lyrics to the song Science Fiction/Double Feature:
- Silver City is a 2004 political satire and drama film written and directed by John Sayles.
- The aging of the baby boomers is called the silver tsunami.[5]
- In heraldry there is no distinction between silver and white, represented as "argent".
- In English heraldry argent (silver) or white signified brightness, purity, virtue, or innocence.[6]
- The Silver Cord is a 1926 play by Sidney Howard about the emotional tie between a mother and a son and the term "silver cord" is sometimes used to represent this tie.[4]
- Silver Child is the first in The Silver Sequence is a fantasy brook trilogy by Cliff McNish consisting of Silver Child, Silver City and Silver World.
- Silver Apples was a psychedelic electronic music duo from New York City that formed in 1967.
- Silverhead was a British band, led by singer/actor Michael Des Barres. They were a part of the glam rock music scene of the early 1970s.
- Silver Convention was a popular disco music group.
- Silverchair is a contemporary Australian rock band.
- Silver Fox is a song by RJD2 from his 2002 album Deadringer.
- The Silver Surfer is a popular comic book character.
- Silver Fox is a character in the Marvel comics universe.
- Those who claim to have had out-of-body experiences sometimes report that they observe a silver cord connecting their astral body to their physical body.[7]
- The Silver Shirts was an American fascist organization during the 1930s.
- The Silverdome, a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan constructed in 1975 for $55,000,000 (about $220,000,000 in 2009 dollars), sold in 2009 for $583,000, symbolizing the collapse of real estate prices in the Detroit metropolitan area.[8]
- The Oakland Raiders of the National Football League and the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association use silver as one of their primary colors, along with black.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 204; Color Sample of Silver: Page 97 Plate 37 Color Sample A2
- ^ "W3C TR CSS3 Color Module, HTML4 color keywords". W3.org. http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-color/#html4. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- ^ Asimov, Isaac Atom: Journey Across the Subatomic Cosmos New York:1992 Plume (Penguin)
- ^ a b c d Mish, Frederic C., Editor in Chief Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary Springfield, Massachuetts, U.S.A.:1984--Merriam-Webster Page 1098
- ^ Debra J. Saunders (2008-03-11). ""Everyone’s Mortgage Crisis"—Debra J. Saunders’ column in the Tue. March 11, 2008 ''San Francisco Chronicle'' about the Social Security and Medicare Entitlement Crisis:". Sfgate.com. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/11/ED5HVH87G.DTL&hw=Debra+Saunders&sn=003&sc=862. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- ^ The American Girls Handy Book, p.369
- ^ Greenhouse, Herbert B. The Astral Journey New York:1975 Doubleday Page 46
- ^ Silverdome Sells for $583,000:
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Web colors |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| black | gray | silver | white | maroon | red | purple | fuchsia | green | lime | olive | yellow | navy | blue | teal | aqua |
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Shades of gray |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gray | Arsenic | Ash gray | Battleship gray | Bistre | Black | Cadet gray | Charcoal | Cinereous | Cool gray |
| Davy's gray | Feldgrau | Glaucous | Isabelline | Liver | Payne's gray | Platinum | Seal brown | Silver | Slate gray |
| Taupe | Purple taupe | Medium taupe | Taupe gray | Pale taupe | Rose quartz | White | Xanadu | ||
| The samples shown above are only indicative. | |||||||||