hey i just dont get it.. gold and silver are totally the same except for the color but why does gold have to be more expensive??
2006-08-21 22:49:28 · 17 answers · asked by mygirl_sk8er82893 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Primary & Secondary Education
I think for 3 reasons:
1- quantity of silver in the world is bigger than gold.
2- cost of extracting in gold is higher than that of silver.
3- people prefers gold....so, it is a matter of supply and demand too.
2006-08-21 22:57:53 · answer #1 · answered by egymah 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Gold is rarer, and the demand for it is higher.
Gold is used in everything from jewelry and other luxury items, to high tech items like computers and space shuttles.
Silver is far more common, and its applications do not include use in high-cost enterprises, but rather, its use is almost entirely limited to jewelry, quality silverware, and home decor.
Think of it this way... I have 10 bars of gold, and 10 bars of silver... I spent a year mining and forging the gold, and only a month on the silver. First, I'm going to want higher compensation for the time spent on the gold (because it was harder to find, and since the silver was more common, I make up for the price loss in the sheer amount I can find). Next, I sell it. Each time someone buys a bar, the price goes up (as the same amount of people want it, but I have less to offer)... once again, because of the hard work I spent in getting the gold, the gold's price will rise faster than the silver's. Eventually, as I get down to my last few bars of each... only the rich can afford my gold, whereas almost everyone can still afford my silver.
Oh, and for the record... Gold and silver are by no means the same. Gold (Au) and silver (Ag) are two seperate elements on the periodic table. They have different chemical properties, oxidize under different conditions, different densities, different properties (such as gold's ability to bend under gentle pressure, whereas silver can withstand a ding or two before becoming damaged), and in jewelry, some people (like myself) are allergic to gold or their body's chemistry can eat right through the metal (like my late grandmother), but are quite capable of wearing silver, and vice versa.
2006-08-21 23:24:06 · answer #2 · answered by seraphim_pwns_u 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you consider the minning costs then gold should be more expensive than silver.
If you consider than gold is not conusmed, it just stored since centuries, but silver is consumed in electronics and thrown away, then silver could be as expensive as gold and ever more expensive.
The reason silver is sitll less expensive than gold is that in the last decades, there was a lot of silver made available by central banks (USA, China).
As silver is consumed and and inventories keep descending silver price will rise.
2006-08-22 01:50:01 · answer #3 · answered by Pablo P 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
They aren't the same. They are different elements. The demand for precious metals (such as gold and silver) is driven not only by their practical use, but also by their role as investments and a store of value. Silver is substantially less expensive presently at 1/49 the price of gold, but is often traditionally considered a precious metal for its role in coinage and jewelry. The rarity of other precious metals may shift in the future; the supply deficit of silver - 300 million troy ounces (9 million kg) more silver are currently consumed per annum than are mined - may ultimately cause it to become rarer than gold.
2006-08-21 22:58:54 · answer #4 · answered by marzipanthecat 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Supply and demand
the demand for Gold exceeds the quantity in a larger difference to silver.
do a search for gold and silver mines and how much they produce and also where they are, sometimes politics can play a role in price just like we see with fossil fuels from the middle east.
2006-08-21 22:58:07 · answer #5 · answered by Keanu 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No gold is not stronger than silver. Gold is soft and pliable the more pure it is.
No gold and silver are not the same. Gold is gold and silver is silver just like apples are apples and oranges are oranges.
Gold is well sought after because it's rare but it also has a high conductivity. Gold is used in airbags in cars as well as in circuitry in computers.
2006-08-21 22:58:48 · answer #6 · answered by J Greenhood 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Gold and silver are metal. And the cost it takes to find these metals vary. Also it can depend on the demand in the market place. Stude macroecomincs and microeconomics. (Supply and demand)
2006-08-23 07:00:35 · answer #7 · answered by jjewelzs 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Gold is stronger than silver.
2006-08-21 22:55:11 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because gold is the most precious metal for trade. In trading gold consider as a perfect profit metal. It is very beneficial and profitable trade for investing that's why every traders invest in it.
2014-06-16 19:35:43 · answer #9 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they're not the same. Gold is actually very similar to lead!
why it is more expensive. Gold is much rarer thus much more precious!!
2006-08-21 22:55:07 · answer #10 · answered by peter gunn 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋