In the refining of silver, the recovery of silver from silver nitrate solution involved displacement by copper metal. Write down the reaction involved.

A chemical reaction involves the transformation of reactants into products. In this case, the reactants are silver nitrate \(\text{AgNO}_3\) and copper \(\text{Cu}\). When these reactants interact, bonds are broken and new ones are formed, resulting in new substances.
Here, copper displaces silver from silver nitrate. This type of reaction is called a displacement reaction. In a displacement reaction, a more reactive metal displaces a less reactive metal from its compound. In our example, copper is more reactive than silver, so it takes the place of silver.
Remember, the essence of any chemical reaction lies in the rearrangement of atoms and the conservation of mass. All atoms present in the reactants must be accounted for in the products.

Refining of metals is the process of purifying an impure metal. One common method involves chemical reactions to remove impurities. For silver, one technique involves using silver nitrate solution and a more reactive metal.
In the given exercise, copper is used to recover silver from silver nitrate solution. This involves a displacement reaction where copper replaces silver from its nitrate compound, forming copper(II) nitrate and releasing pure silver.
This method effectively separates silver from its combined state, yielding high-purity silver metal. The choice of copper is critical due to its higher reactivity compared to silver, facilitating the displacement reaction.

Balancing chemical equations is crucial for accurately representing a reaction. The law of conservation of mass dictates that atoms cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction. Therefore, the number of atoms of each element must be the same on both sides of the equation.
Let’s balance the given reaction:
The unbalanced equation is: \[ \text{AgNO}_3 + \text{Cu} \rightarrow \text{Cu(NO}_3\text{)}_2 + \text{Ag} \]
First, count the atoms of each element in the reactants and products:
Reactants: 1 Ag, 1 Cu, 1 N, 3 O
Products: 1 Cu, 2 N, 6 O, 1 Ag
Notice that silver \(Ag\) and nitrogen \(N\) atoms are not balanced. To fix this, we place a coefficient of 2 before \(\text{AgNO}_3\): \[ 2\text{AgNO}_3 + \text{Cu} \rightarrow \text{Cu(NO}_3\text{)}_2 + 2\text{Ag} \]
Now, the equation is balanced: 2 Ag, 1 Cu, 2 N, 6 O on both sides. This respects the conservation of atoms, ensuring the equation reflects the actual reaction.