What is Copper?
Copper is a chemical element that used to be in a reddish color. The copper extremely ductile metal which is placed in Group 11 of the periodic table. The copper atomic number is 29. It has many chemical properties such as it is a good conductor of electricity and heat. It is found in ore form in nature. This native copper was first used in c. 8000 BCE as a substitute for stone by New Stone Age humans. It is a principal element of many compounds and alloys.
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Properties of Copper
Some properties of copper metal are listed below.
Copper is a transition metal having a copper atomic number is 29 which means the copper atom contains 29 protons.
The copper symbol is Cu (from Latin: cuprum) which is mostly found in ore form.
Ar
\[Ar 4s^{1} 3d^{10}\] is the electronic configuration of Copper.
Its appearance is reddish-orange and it is solid metal.
The atomic mass/weight of Cu is 63.546 u (unified atomic mass unit).
Its melting point is 1084.62℃ and the Boiling point is 2562℃.
The density of Cu is \[8.96 g/cm^{3}\].
It conducts heat and electricity very easily. It also offers excellent corrosion resistance.
Natural copper is a mixture or copper composition of two stable isotopes. These isotopes are copper-63 (69.15 %) and copper-65 (30.85%).
It can be recycled again without the loss of quality.
Uses of Copper
Some of the popular uses of the copper element are given below.
Copper is added to some metals in order to improve their flexibility, hardness, elasticity, color, and resistance to corrosion as it is an easily molded base metal. Copper alloys used in jewellery such as silver and gold are the common metals that are alloyed with copper.
Copper is used in most common materials of plumbing and electrical industries such as tubing, motor parts, wire, piping, etc.
Copper is also considered an essential element for human health. An adult human being requires approximately 1.2 mg of Cu in a day to help enzymes transfer energy in cells. An excess amount of copper in the body is toxic. Wilson’s disease and Menkes’ disease are genetic diseases that can affect the ability of the body to use copper properly.
It is alloyed with metals in order to make it usable for different purposes. Some of the important alloys of copper are copper-nickels, brasses, copper-beryllium alloys, bronzes, nickel silver alloys, gunmetals, etc.
Compounds of Copper
Some of the important compounds of copper are as follows.
Oxides- Copper forms two oxides as it has two valences. These compounds are cuprous oxide (\[Cu_{2}O\]) and cupric oxide (CuO). Cuprous oxide is produced by furnace methods or electrolytes. It is a red crystalline material. Cupric oxide is prepared by the ignition of suitable salts such as the hydroxide, the nitrate or carbonate of copper, or by heating of cuprous oxide. CuO is a black-colored powder.
Halides- Cuprous chloride (CuCl), Cupric chloride (\[CuCl_{2}\]) are compounds of copper with chlorine. By the direct combination of copper and iodine, the result is produced as Cuprous iodide (CuI). Cupric iodide (\[Cul_{2}\]) exists only in complex organic compounds or in combination with ammonium salts.
Sulphates- Cupric sulphate (\[CuSO_{4}\]) is called blue vitriol because it has a bright blue colour and is the most important salt of copper. Cupric sulphate generally crystallizes as \[CuSO_{4}. 5H_{2}O\].
Carbonates - When an alkaline carbonate is added to the solution of a copper salt, basic copper carbonates are formed. Compounds that have a bright green or blue colour are used in the preparation of pigments that occur in nature such as the minerals malachite and azurite.
Occurrence of Copper
Native copper occurred at various sites or locations as a primary mineral in basaltic lavas. It is also reduced from compounds of Cu such as arsenides, carbonates, chlorides, and sulfides. Copper is found in combination with many minerals, such as azurite, malachite, chalcopyrite, bornite, cuprite, and chalcocite. In many sea corals, it is present in the ashes of seaweeds, in the liver of human beings, and in many molluscs and arthropods. Copper is essential for living beings as it plays a similar role in transporting oxygen in the hemocyanin of molluscs (blue-blooded) and crustaceans as iron does in the hemoglobin of red-blooded animals. Copper is present in the body of humans as a trace element that helps catalyze hemoglobin formation. The greatest known deposit of the minerals is a deposit of porphyry copper in the Andes Mountains of Chile. Chile had become the leading producer of copper in the world by the early 21st century. Other major producers of copper are Peru, China, and the United States.
Conclusion
We get the information through this article related to copper metal such as its symbol, uses as well as occurrence and properties of copper etc. There is no doubt that copper is a very essential metal used in everyday life as well as industrial purposes. The wide range of applications of copper is possible due to its metallic properties.
FAQs on Copper
1. What is copper?
Copper is an element and a mineral that is very important for our everyday lives. Its atomic number is 29 on the Periodic Table of Elements. The copper symbol is “Cu”. It has properties of malleability, ductility, electrical and thermal conductivity as well as resistance to corrosion. Because of these properties, It has major industrial use. Copper occurs in nature in various minerals, including native copper, copper sulfides such as chalcocite, bornite, digenite, covellite, and chalcopyrite copper sulfosalts such as enargite and tetrahedrite-tennantite, copper carbonates such as malachite and azurite, and as oxides of copper(I) or copper(II) such as cuprite and tenorite, respectively. The common oxidation state of copper is +1 and +2. Due to its ductility i.e, ability to be drawn into wires and strings, high resistance to heat, copper being a good conductor of electricity, copper is used in electrical industries to make wires and motors.
2. Copper is a metal or nonmetal?
Copper is a metal. It shows the properties of metals. It is placed in group 11 of the periodic table where metals have one s-orbital electron on top of a filled d-electron shell. Metals of group 11 are characterized by high ductility, electrical and thermal conductivity. The filled d- orbital shells of the Cu atom contributed less to interactions of interatomic. Covalent characters are lacking in metallic bonds of copper and are relatively weak. Copper is considered a very essential metal that has properties like malleability, nonferrous, ductility, and has a wide range of applications in the field of building construction, consumer, electricity, and electronics, plumbing, industry, transportation, and health products.
3. What are the applications of copper?
Copper is a reddish-colored metal that is well known for its ductility i.e, the ability to be drawn into pipes and wires. It was the first metal that humans used and modified into different shapes for their personal uses. Even an era was named after its alloy i.e, bronze which can be made when the copper is mixed with the tin. Just like silver and gold, historically copper was used in making coins. Copper is used in electric materials like wires, motors, etc, and it is preferred to make wires because of its ductility also copper is a good conductor of heat and electricity. One compound of copper i.e, copper sulfate is used to kill algae in the water purification process and also to kill pests in agriculture. Fehling’s solution is also a compound of copper that is used to detect the presence of sugars in chemistry. Biologically, copper is very important for human life. A minimum of 1.09 milligrams of copper is essential for faster transfer of energy from the stomach to different body parts, but excessive copper intake is harmful to human beings. Mammals use iron present in hemoglobin to transfer oxygen but some crustaceans use copper to transfer oxygen.
4. Why is copper used in the wires?
Copper is a reddish-colored metal that is well known for its ductility i.e, the ability to be drawn into pipes and wires. It was the first metal that humans used and modified into different shapes for their personal uses. Copper has many applications and using it in wires is one among them. After silver, copper is a very good conductor of electricity which means that electricity can easily pass through the copper. Copper is also very inexpensive compared to other metals, for example, gold and silver are also excellent conductors of electricity but they are very costly to be used in wiring. Companies making wires out of gold and silver would only just waste lots of money. Copper is also very ductile which means it can be drawn into wires and pipes which are very flexible to use. Copper can sustain the damage to some extent when it is bent and folded, this is also the reason why gold is mixed with copper to make ornaments. It is better to use copper wires than wires made of other metals as copper has high resistance to heat. Due to these reasons, copper is universally accepted as the best choice to make wires.
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6. Where can we find copper in India?
Copper is a reddish-colored metal that is well known for its ductility i.e, the ability to be drawn into pipes and wires. It was the first metal that humans used and modified into different shapes for their personal uses. Copper is alloyed with tin to make bronze and it is alloyed with zinc to make brass. India does not have rich copper reserves, it has only 9.4 million tonnes of copper reserves. Major copper deposits in India are found in Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer of copper in India with the Balaghat district contributing the most. Rajasthan is the second-largest copper-producing state in India accounting for 40% of total production and Khetri mines in Rajasthan have been an important production center for ages. Singhbhum district in Jharkhand is also a major copper-producing state. Copper is a very good conductor of electricity which means that electricity can easily pass through copper and it is also highly resistant to heat. It is very ductile i.e, can be drawn into wires and strings, so they are used in wires and electrical industries. Hence, copper is economically very important to any country.
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