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buy custom NCAA Problems and Suggested Solutions essay The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has been plagued by a myriad of problems and challenges, from its inception in 1906 to the outfit it is today. This research paper seeks to understand the past problems and how the society viewed them, including the measures that were put in place to fix those early problems. It will also strive to offer practical problem solving approaches that we, as the society could implement on the system so that it can achieve even greater success. The paper will discuss the chronology of problematic past events and how they were solved. It will also offer suggestions on how the NCAA can be improved so as to offer better and more comprehensive services to the sportsmen and their respective institutions. In the early 1900s, college football was a rowdy and risky affair that left many players and some fans either dead or maimed for life (Dunnavant 54).The risky nature of early football was the catalyst that necessitated the formation of a body, tasked with ensuring that the football games got some semblance of safety. In 1905, Theodore Roosevelt, who was the current American president, convened two meetings at the white house, which were attended by college athletics officials, to lobby for reforms in the college football. The most notable person, in the formation of NCAA was Henry M. MacCracken the Chancellor of the New York University who successfully called a meeting with 13 institutions to initiate reforms concerning the rules in the football playing in 1905.The subsequent meeting, held on December 28, and attended by 62 universities and colleges gave birth to the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS). Officially constituted on the 13th of March 1906, t he IAAUS changed its name to the current NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) in 1910. The NCAA was just a regulatory body in college football, because its core function was to formulate rules and offer a forum for discussing football issues. Its first major break came in 1921 when it organized and hosted the first NCAA national championships under the title The National Collegiate Track and Field Championships. In 1939, the NCAA hosted its first national intercollegiate basketball championship, which was a huge success. The college athletics grew rapidly with the introduction of several championships, effectively leading to the expansion of the national athletics programs in the 70s.This unprecedented divergence of the athletics games prompted the need to restructure the programs offered so as to accommodate the varying and changing levels of the sports.The membership of the association was divided into three competitive and legislative divisions in 1973; I, II and III. In 1978 Division I members were for the creation of subdivisions I-A and I-AA. The two subdivisions were given names the Football Bowl Subdivision and the Football Championship Subdivion, respectively in 2007. It was not until 1980, when Divisions II and III set up 10 championships, where the womens athletics were incorporated. Since its inception and operationalization, the NCAA has been plagued by a myriad of problems and challenges. During the infancy stage of the association, its greatest challenge was on the enforcement of its rules and regulations. According to Smith ( 8-11), the early constitution clearly stated that athletics activities shall be maintained on an ethical plane in keeping with the dignity and high purpose of education. The expectation was that, a high standard of personal honor, eligibility and fair play would be the guiding principles that would oversee the smooth running of the athletics games. However, the association was handicapped on the issue of enforcing the rules, a predicament that could be attributed to a lack of support for the idea of a central enforcement authority by the original Executive Committee. In essence it was just a toothless dog that could only bark but couldnt bite. The basic and primary enforcement factor for the association was basically trust, which was pr one to be abused and misused by the members. The lack of law enforcement powers was a major thorn in the flesh of the Association and it took many decades for the Association to grow some teeth to bite. The 1940s saw many serious and blatant violations, espeially in relation to the Associations core value of the principle of amateurism. This prompted the NCAA Delegates Committee to grant the Executive Committee more investigative and interpretative powers, with the primary intention of protecting amateurism (Dunnavant 59). A conference of conferences was subsequently held in Chicago in 1946, to lobby the members to discuss the growing concerns connected to the violations of the amateurism principle .The first major breakthrough was achieved in 1948 with the adoption of the sanity code in respect to the members following the laid down rules and regulations. Dubbed as the return to sanity, the convention imposed strict regulations on matters concerning outside financial aid, academic standards, mode of recruiting the players, ins titutional control and most importantly, amateurism (Dunnavant 64). For the first time, the Association had teeth to bite because it declared that the violators of the sanity code would be barred from the NCAA. To exert their authority and show their seriousness, the NCAA found seven institutions to have violated the sanity code in 1950, but luckily for the institutions, a lack of a voting majority by the delegates saved them from exclusion from the NCAA. However, one year later the sanity code was repealed due to its severe penalties for violations and the limits that had been set regarding financial aid. The sanity code was replaced by a new code that established membership committee, mandated with the role of probing complains about violations and an investigative subcommittee. The conclusions of the subcommittee would then be forwarded to the NCAA council for any punitive action like suspension, probation or expulsion. The sanity code made a revolution in the American college sports world by bringing sanity and a systematic code of ethics in the college sporting sector (Falla 12-27). Under the chairmanship of Walter Byers (The first executive director of NCAA) a formal action, based on the findings of the subcommittee was taken against 10 basketball players from the University of Kentucky who were accused of receiving impermissible financial aid. The players were thereafter suspended for one year from the league games, a penalty that they accepted thereby giving credence to the NCAA on its ability to enforce its rules. A national certification plan was adopted in 1954, which required an institutions president to certify in writing that his institution would comply with the rules and regulations of the association. The show clause (which is in effect even today) was adopted in 1956 requiring institutions to show why its members should not be suspended after violating the rules. Several amendments we re made in subsequent years, most notably being the appointment of a Special Enforcement and Reorganization Committee tasked with the role of recommending changes in the enforcement process. A 1987 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a big blow to the NCAA on its ability to enforce its rules and regulations equally in all the states. The ruling (commonly referred to as the Nevada law) filed by the University of Nevada required the NCAA to use defined measures in its investigations. Other states soon followed the suit seriously undermining the authority of the association. Their effort to have the law reversed was rejected by the Supreme Court when it declined to review the case (Falla 63). The society can play a crucial role in the sustenance of a good conduct by exhibiting trust where the rules and regulations are concerned. The NCAA should not be seen as a policing unit that watches over the offenders and the violators of the set rules. The perception of the society towards the association should be that of a partner who formulates rules to maintain sanity and equality in the athletics sports. Since its inception in 1906, the NCAA most important and core value was that of trust. It was expected that the players and their respective institutions would stick to the rules and regulations based on pure trust of each other, rather than following the rules based on fear of repercussions. In the original constitution drafted in 1906, the first delegates expressed their desire in the set rules and regulations in which the athletics games were expected to reflect dignity and high purpose of education (Dunnavant 77).The role of the association has substantially evolved to cove r wider administrative boundaries, education and outreach pprogrammes, rules formulation and enforcement among other roles. It has emerged as the body that is tasked with ensuring that the sports sector in the colleges is streamlined and gives the games a sense of purpose. One suggestion of improvement that the association should consider is the inclusion of the public sector in the administration of the sporting events. They should formulate a provision whereby the members of the general public are given a chance to express their opinions on the competitions and input the suggestions and advice. This is because the public has a wealth of information and experience, based on the fact that most of them, if not all of them, were once college students and they have something to say. The television networks also should be given rights to air the games live because this will give a chance for those who cannot attend the games to be a part of the games. With the advancement in technology the games can even be aired live throughout the world, it will only not popularize the events but will also advertise the upcoming new players of great and promising talent (Dunnavant 77). Another major way to improve the sporting world would be to look for ways of extending the jurisdiction of the association from the American boundaries, to the whole world. Throughout the world, sports have been an integral part of every day life, especially in learning institutions. Many great athletes and players start nurturing their raw talent in education institutions, starting at the elementary level. When they reach college level the talent is polished up, and most of the great players can then decide whether to take the sport as a career or just as a form of relaxation and enjoyment. In this respect, the NCAA should yearn to include other countries in their games to collaborate with the other sporting authorities of the different nations. The outcome of this should be global championship, which would allow the American college students to compete with some of the best athletes from all over the world. They should collaborate with other regional, national and international spo rting associations to improve on the sporting events. The Association should also relax some of their most stringent rules so as to cut slack to the institutions and the player alike. For example, in the sanity code, the limit set for financial aid should be relaxed, so as to give the corporate world a chance to support, through sponsorship programmes, their favorite teams. The increased funding can even be used by institutions to acquire state of the art equipment that can further help in the improvement of the games. More funds can also be used for follow up programmes for the best student players once they finish their college years. The corporate world should be encouraged to participate in the affairs of the college sports, not for profit making but as a part of their corporate social responsibility. Big corporate organizations have plenty of money to be spent, and the college games should benefit from this, albeit in a minimal way. In conclusion it is evident that the role of the NCAA has greatly transformed from what it was a decade ago to what it is now. As discussed earlier, there are some major milestones which have been achieved, but as they say, the sky is the limit. As the sporting events become more popular part of the education system, so should the NCAA adapt to the ever changing world of sports. Its tentacles should be spread widely and far to transcend geographical boundaries and age limits among other limitations. The association should be highly commended for bringing a semblance of sanity to a field which had the potential of becoming rowdy and unruly, but thanks to the NCAA, the college sports now are more mature and sensible. The society must first of all appreciate the efforts that have been put in place by the administrative framework of the NCAA, so as to offer practical suggestions on its improvement. The social media can be used by the members of the society to raise their concerns and suggestions regarding the mode of operation of the association. On the other hand the association should accept positive criticism from the members of the public and incorporate the suggestions put forward by the society members. Thanks to the advance of the Internet, there can be an exchange of information between the association and the society. 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Country study (China) Case Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Country (China) - Case Study Example ..6 1. Executive Summary Victory State Bank is a banking organization located in the United States of America in New York. Having expanded considerably, the organization has decided to set up a new shop in China in order expand its market and attract new customers. Therefore, the report examines different factors that will have to be considered in order to establish the viability of the area. The report will also examine the specific details that will be considered while entering the country 2. Introduction A number of factors need to be examined by an organization when it decides to venture a new market. This will especially be when the organization is venturing anew country altogether. Unlike opening a shop in the same country, opening in a different country might require the organization to change some factors in its setting. In this case, factors that will be examined include the mode of entry, the human resources, and the marketing and distribution strategies. Generally, these a re factors that will affect the overall operation of the newly opened shop. 3. Recommendations on how to enter the country 3.0Mode of entry The mode of entry that should be applied is the exporting mode. Exporting the services to the China people will attract them much easier and quicker. In addition, this is a cheap mode of entry since it involves very few expenses and costs. Exporting mode of entry is usually known to attract customers easily because the products or services have been brought closer to the customers’ location and thus, customers can easily access the services or products (Sun,  H., & University of Sydney, 1996). Therefore, this is a method that will require fewer advertisements and promotions as compared to the importing method. However, the method will have a disadvantage of competition. Victory State Bank will have to face stiff competition from the banks that have already been established in China. 3.1 Human Resources Victory State Bank will have to em ploy more staff members that can converse in Chinese fluently (Bailey, 2007). These will help in improving the mode of communication with the new customers. The selected management for the new branch will also have to be made of persons that are fully conversant with the culture and the political environment of the country. Thus, they will know how to solve matters concerning licensing and establishment fees. The organization might also have to employ some people from its country of origin instead of employing all its employees from China (Sun,  H., & University of Sydney, 1996). This will enable the organization to create employment in the country thus, creating a positive image for itself. Therefore, the mode of staffing used will mainly be geocentric, because while some crucial services require employees from the home country, others will use employees from the new country. The payment will still be constant since cases of increases in payments might lead to increased expenses. However, the organization will have to ensure effective training of the employees in order to ensure quality services. 3.2 Marketing The target market of the organization will be mainly business entities dealing with large sums of money, because they demand banking services highly (Beckwith,  1997). However, the organization will also target private individuals that demand banking

Sources of Finance for SMEs in UK and US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sources of Finance for SMEs in UK and US - Essay Example Thus the sizes, related industry, year of operating and organizational forms are the most important factors that determine the finance sources for a SME (Rutherford, Oswald, n.p, 1999) and most of the SMEs get finance through their internal funds like the starting capital of the owner, loan arranged by the owner of SME and the retained earning. However along with these internal sources the SME get external debts from the financial institution also and this credit help the SMEs in financing their different business operations. The main sources of finance for the SMEs of UK are identified in the survey conducted by Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in 2004. According to the figures provided by FSB, SMEs do use more then one source to finance their business. 50.8% of the SMEs in UK use the bank drafts to finance their business, 30. 6% used personal savings, 29.5% use bank loans, 28.5% use retained profits and 25.5% use credit cards debts to finance their business (Carter et al, p14, 2004). The report of FSB further disclosed that leasing and factoring are not commonly used by the SMEs for getting credits to finance the business. The new SMEs mostly depend on personal saving and credit cards whereas the older SMEs depend more on supplier's credit. On the other hand, the survey conducted by SmallBusinessFinances(SSBF)of America in 1998 discloses the main sources of credit for SMEs in United States. The report discloses that there are 80 percent of US SMEs that used to take some kind of credit from differen t sources. 34% of the SMEs in US get credit to finance their business from business credit cards, 46% use personal credit cards, and 28% use credit line whereas 21 percent use vehicle loans. Financial institutions are also important source of credit and there are 38% of the SMEs that use to get credit from commercial banks and 13.3% SMEs take loans from finance companies. The report shows that the smaller size firms have little access to the banks and financial institution as compared with developed and big SMEs (Watson, p35, 1993) The credit availability to SMEs for financing is surrounded by an important issue of lending technologies. There are five major lending technologies used by the financial institutions and banks to provide credit to SMEs for financing their business operation. In UK and US the SMEs get loans from different financial institutions through different lending technologies among them the relationship lending and transaction based lending are the most important types (Thorsten and Demirguc, p2931, 2006). The commercial banks in UK and US mostly find it more profitable to provide credits to the SMEs through relationship lending as they got shelter ageists price competition by using this lending technology. (Allen, Udell, p2931, 2006) however this trend is more common among the UK banks and the banks in US like to provide credit to SMEs through transaction based lending as they get high interest rates and there is poor risk rating for this type of credit lending. In UK when the SMEs failed to get credit from banks and other financial institu

Statement of problem, opportunity, objectives Essay Example for Free

Statement of problem, opportunity, objectives Essay Alan Baird, the founding figure of Stitch it, a primarily mall based service provider which officers alteration services to the private and public sector, was now the company’s CEO. In 1990, Baird sold Stitch it to a business group after sales and income had begun to slow. After selling his company and having stayed on as CEO, he oversaw the growth of the company and overall expansion form the initial 3 stores under Baird’s direct leadership, to today’s 84 stores throughout Canada and the United States. Now having the opportunity to buy back his business venture, his daughter, Jennifer Baird has expressed her interest I becoming an executive in the Stitch It Group. Analysis of situation Although Jennifer Baird has graduated from The University of Western Ontario with a bachelor’s degree in the administrative and commercial studies program in 2000, she lacks real-time experience to go into the Stitch It Group and lead as an executive. She would have a difficult time attempting to adjust to the fast paced environment in addition to having the support from her peers or the respect from her employees without having earned her â€Å"stripes.† To address the concern, Alain Baird proposed a plan of attack to expose his daughter to the much needed experience by completing a 10-year plan. The plan called for her to assume the role of a local store moving up to managing operations to various stores and then rotating thru positions in business operations, accounting department, marketing and human resources before heading into an executive position Identification and evaluation of alternatives Alternative #1: Jennifer Baird can continue with her education and her goal to be a top executive by taking courses and earning a degree in business management. Advantage: She would take this education into a tentative 10-year program her father will develop and expose her to real-life situations with the day-to-day operations of the group. Disadvantage: This option might deter her father from purchasing the group in the manner that it would be up to an additional four years of schooling before she can accompany and assist him the business operations. Alternative #2: Alan Baird takes his daughter, Jennifer Baird, under his wing and shows her â€Å"the ropes† after completing her education at The University of Western Ontario and assigns her to and extended internship program after he accepts the offer to buy back his previous business group. Advantage: Alan Baird fulfills his dream to operate a family business; in addition he assures himself his daughter obtains the necessary exposure to the successes and failure of running the business. Disadvantage: Within time, Alan Baird might not have the physical stamina to run the family business and keep up with his daughter’s training. Decision, course of action, implementation Alternative #2 is the best course of action available to Alan Baird. By taking his daughter under his leadership, he can share first-hand experience and knowledge to overcome and continue in the groups’ success and he can have the family business he always sought after.

Hamlet and Ophelia :: Essays Papers

Hamlet and Ophelia 1. Plays have foils to help the audience understand important characters in the play. Foils are minor characters that have similarities and differences with a more important character in the play. Sometimes the minor character is just there for the character to talk to; this is the basis for being a foil. In the play "Hamlet," [Titles] by William Shakespeare, the character Ophelia is a foil to Hamlet. 2. Similarities are an important part of being a foil. One similarity that Hamlet and Ophelia share are that they both are children of controlling parents. [SV - 1] Hamlet's father, who is murdered[,] comes back as a ghost to tell him who his murderer is. This news is his father's way of controlling him from the grave. Hamlet's mother and stepfather are also controlling him by presuading [persuading] Hamlet not to go to Wittenburg. Men in those days went away to get an education. There was no need for Hamlet to do so because he was a prince. [As a Prince, he might have been even more likely to go abroad for his education.] Ophelia is controlled by her father also. She tells him how Hamlet has tried many times to express his affections for her. Ophelia's father does not believe Hamlet is sincere and orders her to stay away from him. Ophelia obeys her father[']s wishes. Women were expected to do as they were told and believed what they were told to be true. 3. Another similarity between Hamlet and Ophelia is their [the] feelings they have for each other. In the beginning of the play[,] we are lead [led] to believe that Hamlet loves Ophelia. This frightens Ophelia, but that does not mean she does not have feelings for him also. It is her father who discourages [encourages] her to suppress any feelings she may have then. Later in the play Ophelia confesses her love for Hamlet[,] and he then hides his feelings and denies that he loved her. He suggests that she goes [go] to a nunnery. This makes Ophelia feel worthless and not wanted. 4. Finally the reactions that the characters have to their fathers' deaths are also similar. When Hamlet learns that his father was murdered and that his stepfather is the killer[,] it is more than he can handle.

Religious Beliefs and Practices In A New Era Essay

Assess the view that religious beliefs and practices are changing to reflect a new era of diversity and choice. Current religious beliefs and practices are very different in Britain from 100 years ago. No longer do the masses attend the established church, attendance is down to 6% of the population and the 2001 Census identified 170 distinct religions in Britain. 72% claim to be Christian but less than half of the population believe in God and only 18% claim to be a practicing member of an organised religion. Clearly today’s patterns are very different from those of the past. How then to explain them? There are two fields of thought here. Secularists take the simple opinion: lack of attendance and reduction of belief means a lack of interest and a decline in interest and influence of religion. However, opponents of secularisation claim it is not as simple as that. Society itself has changed dramatically in recent years but that does not mean a decline in society, just a change. Religion, therefore, can not be expected to stagnate in a changing society but must also change with the times. Religion then must met the needs of a late modern or postmodern society which offer levels of diversity and choice which have not existed before and can not do this by behaving as it did in a modern or pre-industrial society. Grace Davie is a proponent of this point of view. For her, religion has simply become more privatised, that is: it is now a private matter of personal preference. This is more appropriate for a society which emphasises individualism and simply echoes what is happening in other institutions in society: the family, for example, is no longer a simple traditional nuclear family, other groupings are now widely accepted. People are then free to decide whether they wish to attend church, worship on their own or even use modern technologies to help them worship, whereas in the past the norm was to attend church and people felt obliged to do so. Davie describes this new pattern as believing without belonging and believes it is a new form of religion. As evidence of this, she points to wider attendance or reliance on religion in times of crisis. People are content to practice vicarious religion where a small number of professional clergy practise religion on behalf of a much larger number of p eople until times of national or personal tragedy. However, if Davies is correct then this would mean high levels of belief and low attendance which Voas and Crockett point out is not the case. Bruce argues that if people are not willing to get involved then their belief must not be sincere or strong so Davie’s defence is unrealistic. Hervieu-Leger points to an increase in individualism and a decline of tradition in society, ideas associated with late modernity, as reasons for a decline in institutional religion. Parents are reluctant to tell their children what to believe so traditional ideas can not be passed down, what Hervieu-Leger calls cultural amnesia. Churches can not be authoritarian and impose beliefs. This leaves people without a fixed religious identity or knowledge of traditional beliefs and thus they are forced to choose or create new religious beliefs and practices for themselves, whereas their ancestors simply repeated patterns of their forebearers. Fortunately having to select one’s own religion is not too demanding for people living in a postmodern society as one of its defining characteristics is consumerism, where we construct our identities through what we consume. H-L describes us now as ‘spiritual shoppers’: without a traditional fixed identity, we must select our own and we do this to best suit ourselves, choosing the beliefs which give most meaning to our lives and suit our interests and aspirations – an individualised religion. Thus instead of merely going to the church our parents went to, today we can take our own personal journey and this explains the wide range of organisations we can join from church to sect to cult. Some H-L describes as pilgrims focusing on self-discovery who join NAMs that concentrate on personal development and others are converts who want a religious group which offers a strong sense of belonging, to re-create a sense of community. Lyon, a postmodernist, supports the idea that traditional religion is giving way to a variety of new religious beliefs and practices because we are living in a postmodern society. In this society globalisation, the increased importance of the media and communications and the growth of consumerism all create a new era of diversity and choice in all aspects of life. Lyon demonstrates how these have affected religion. We are now exposed to a wider range of religious ideas than ever before and these have become ‘disembedded’ from their original local contexts so we can now adapt ideas and beliefs to suit our own purposes. Much new religious belief is simply a watered down version of Eastern religions, adapted to suit Western tastes. Practice of worship is also different because it is no longer necessary to attend a local church. Instead the ‘electronic church’ on the internet and televangelism allow us to stay at home. However, if it is difficult to get convincing statistics of how many people attend church and what effect this has on them, it is even more difficult to research the numbers involved in and the influence of this new form of worship. The very diversity of religions on offer forces a change in religious belief. People become sceptical that any one religion can offer the truth and are, therefore, willing to ‘sample’ any of the new NRMs on offer. Again this is a reflection of postmodern society where we no longer trust in any kind of expert, and have rejected ‘meta-narratives’ which seek to explain the world. This can even be seen in politics where the old certainties of left and right politics have been reduced to the centre ground – one could argue here that their beliefs have also become less strict. This means that new ideas will continue to flourish as we become increasingly disenchanted with the world.

20 Facts About the Chemical Element Silver

Silver is a precious metal that has been known since ancient times. But the element silver has many more uses today than just decoration or as a form of monetary exchange. Silver History 1. The word silver comes from the  Anglo-Saxon word  seolfor.  There is no word that rhymes with the English word silver. It is a transition metal element, with symbol Ag, atomic number 47, and atomic weight of 107.8682. 2. Silver has been known since antiquity. It was one of the first five metals to be discovered. Mankind learned to separate silver from lead in 3000 BCE. Silver  objects have been found dating from before 4000 BCE. It is believed the element was discovered around 5000 BCE. 3. The chemical symbol for silver, Ag, comes from the  Latin word for silver, argentum, which in turn derives from the Sanskit word  argunas, which means shining. 4. The words for silver and money are the same in at least 14 languages. 5. Coins minted in the United States before 1965 consist of about 90% silver. Kennedy half dollars  minted in the United States  between 1965 to 1969 contained 40% silver.   6. The price of silver currently is less than that of gold, varying according to demand, the discovery of sources, and the invention of methods of separating the metal from other elements. In ancient Egypt and Medieval European countries, silver was valued more highly than gold. 7. The primary source of silver today is the New World. Mexico is the leading producer, followed by Peru. The United States, Canada, Russia, and Australia also produce silver.  Around two-thirds of the silver obtained today is a by-product of copper, lead, and zinc mining. Silver mines in Mexico, such as this now-abandoned one, provided 18th century Spain with over one third of the silver sent out of the New World. Danny Lehman / Getty Images Chemistry of Silver 8. Silvers atomic number is 47, with an atomic weight of 107.8682. 9. Silver is stable in oxygen and water, but it  tarnishes in the air because of a reaction with sulfur compounds to form a black sulfide layer. 10. Silver can exist in its native state. In other words, nuggets or crystals of pure silver exist in nature. Silver also occurs as a natural alloy with gold that is called electrum. Silver commonly occurs in copper, lead, and zinc ores. 11. Silver metal is not toxic to humans. In fact, it can be used as a food decoration. However, most silver salts are toxic. Silver is germicidal, meaning it kills bacteria and other lower organisms. 12. Silver is the best electric conductor of the elements. It is used as the standard by which other conductors are measured. On a scale of  0 to 100, silver ranks 100 in terms of electrical conductivity. Copper ranks 97 and gold ranks 76. 13. Only gold is more ductile than silver. An ounce of silver can be drawn into a wire 8,000 feet long. 14. The most commonly encountered form of silver is sterling silver. Sterling silver consists of 92.5% silver, with the balance consists of other metals, usually copper. 15. A single grain of silver (about 65 mg) can be pressed into a sheet 150 times thinner than the average sheet of paper. 16. Silver is the best thermal conductor of any metal. The lines you see in the rear window of a car are made of silver, used to defrost ice in the winter. 17. Some silver compounds are highly explosive. Examples include silver fulminate, silver azide, silver(II) oxide, silver amide, silver acetylide, and silver oxalate. These are compounds in which silver forms a bond with nitrogen or oxygen. Although heat, drying, or pressure often ignite these compounds, sometimes all it takes is exposure to light. They may even explode spontaneously. Silvers Uses 18. Uses of silver metal include currency, silverware, jewelry, and dentistry. Its antimicrobial properties make it useful for air conditioning and water filtration. It is used to make mirror coatings, for solar energy applications, in electronics, and for photography. 19. Silver is exceptionally shiny. It is the most reflective element, which makes it useful in mirrors, telescopes, microscopes, and solar cells. Polished silver reflects 95% of the visible light spectrum. However, silver is a poor reflector of ultraviolet light. 20. The compound silver iodide has been used for cloud seeding, to cause clouds to produce rain and try to control hurricanes. Sources Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. Amsterdam.Hammond, C. R. (2004). The Elements, in Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (81st ed.). Chemical Rubber Company Publishing. Boca Raton, Fla.Weast, Robert (1984). Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Chemical Rubber Company Publishing. pp. E110. Boca Raton, Fla.