Discovery Information
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Who: Known to the ancients. |
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Name Origin
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Latin: cyprium (island of Cyprus famed for its copper mines). |
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Sources
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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.
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Uses
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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).
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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.
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As a material in the manufacture of computer heatsinks, as a result of its superior heat dissipation capacity to aluminium.
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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.
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Notes
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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.
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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.
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When powdered, the metal is a fire hazard. All copper compounds are toxic. Thirty grams of copper sulfate is potentially lethal
in humans.
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