Copper [Cu] (CAS-ID: 7440-50-8) locate me
An: 29 N: 35 Am: 63.546
Group No: 11  Group Name: Coinage metal
Block: d-block  Period: 4
State: solid at 298 K
Colour: copper, metallic Classification: Metallic
Boiling Point: 2840K (2562'C)
Melting Point: 1357.6K (1084.62'C)
Density: 8.96g/cm3
Shell Structure diagram | Atomic Radius diagram
Isotopes | More Info
Discovery Information
Who: Known to the ancients.
Name Origin
Latin: cyprium (island of Cyprus famed for its copper mines).
Sources
Pure copper occurs rarely in nature. Usually copper found in such minerals as azurite, malachite and bornite and in sulfides as in chalcopyrite (CuFeS2), coveline (CuS), chalcosine (Cu2S) or oxides like cuprite (Cu2O). Copper is obtained by smelting, leaching and by electrolysis.
Uses
Most often used as an electrical conductor. Its alloys are used in jewellery, bronze sculptures and for coins. The skin of the Statue of Liberty is made of copper (81.3 tonnes).
Copper(II) sulfate (CuSO4).5H2O) is used as a fungicide and as algae control in domestic lakes and ponds. It is used in gardening powders and sprays to kill mildew.
As a material in the manufacture of computer heatsinks, as a result of its superior heat dissipation capacity to aluminium.
Bacteria will not grow on a copper surface because it is biostatic. Copper doorknobs are used by hospitals to reduce the transfer of disease, and Legionnaire's Disease is suppressed by copper tubing in air-conditioning systems.
Notes
Copper is essential in all higher plants and animals. Copper is carried mostly in the bloodstream on a plasma protein called ceruloplasmin. When copper is first absorbed in the gut it is transported to the liver bound to albumin. Copper is found in a variety of enzymes.
Copper is a very interesting element. It is one of the transition elements that actually uses electrons from one of the inner orbitals in chemical reactions. In addition, it has more than one oxidation state. Like many of the transition elements, copper has a colored ion. Copper typically forms a bluish green solution. Copper (Cu) has two valences Cu I (cuprous) has one valence electron and Cu II (cupric) has two valence electrons. Copper was one of the earliest known metals, having reportedly been mined for over 5000 years. In nature it has two isotopes, 63 (69.09%), which has 29 electrons and protons and 34 neutrons, and 65 (30.91%), which has 29 electrons and protons and 36 neutrons. Brass and bronze are alloys of copper.
When powdered, the metal is a fire hazard. All copper compounds are toxic. Thirty grams of copper sulfate is potentially lethal in humans.
Images
Copper from Arizona Copper from Arizona