| Discovery date | 4300 BC |
| Discovered by | - |
| Origin of the name | The name is derived from the Old English name 'coper' in turn derived from the Latin 'Cyprium aes', meaning a metal from Cyprus |
| Allotropes | - |
| Group | 11 | Melting point | 1084.62 oC, 1984.316 oF, 1357.77 K |
| Period | 4 | Boiling point | 2562 oC, 4643.6 oF, 2835.15 K |
| Block | d | Density (kg m-3) | 8933 |
| Atomic number | 29 | Relative atomic mass | 63.546 |
| State at room temperature | Solid | Key isotopes | 63Cu |
| Electron configuration | [Ar] 3d104s1 | CAS number | 7440-50-8 |
| ChemSpider ID | 22414 | ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database | |
| Atomic radius, non-bonded (Å) | 1.960 | Covalent radius (Å) | 1.22 |
| Electron affinity (kJ mol-1) | 119.117 |
Electronegativity (Pauling scale) |
1.900 |
|
Ionisation energies (kJ mol-1) |
1st
745.482
2nd
1957.917
3rd
3554.613
4th
5536.324
5th
7699.524
6th
9937.981
7th
13411.451
8th
16016.553
|
||
|
|
| Common oxidation states | 2, 1 | ||||
| Isotopes | Isotope | Atomic mass | Natural abundance (%) | Half life | Mode of decay |
| 63Cu | 62.93 | 69.15 | - | - | |
| 65Cu | 64.928 | 30.85 | - | - | |
|
Molar heat capacity (J mol-1 K-1) |
24.44 | Young's modulus (GPa) | 129.8 | |||||||||||
| Shear modulus (GPa) | 48.3 | Bulk modulus (GPa) | 137.8 | |||||||||||
| Vapour pressure | ||||||||||||||
| Temperature (K) |
|
|||||||||||||
| Pressure (Pa) |
|
|||||||||||||
Copper beads have been excavated in northern Iraq and which are more than ten thousand years old and presumably made from native copper, nuggets of which can sometimes be found. Copper was widely used in the ancient world as bronze, its alloy with tin, which was used to make cutlery, coins, and tools. In China it was used for bells.
Copper is not difficult to extract from it ores, but mineable deposits were relatively rare. Some, such as the copper mine at Falun, Sweden, date from the 1200s, were the source of great wealth. One way to extract the metal was to roast the sulfide ore then leach out the copper sulfate that was formed, with water. This was then trickled over scrap iron on the surface of which the copper deposited, forming a flaky layer that was easily removed.
| Listen to Copper Podcast |
|
Transcript :
Chemistry in Its Element - Copper(Promo)
You're listening to Chemistry in its element brought to you by Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
(End promo)
Chris Smith Hello, this week coins, conductivity and copper. To tell the tale of the element that has carried us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, here is Steve Mylon.
Steve Mylon Poor copper, until only recently it seems to have been out shone literally and figuratively by its transition metal cousins, Silver and Gold. I guess this is a combined result that history have in abundance. It's almost never the case where the popular elements are that way because of their utility and interesting chemistry. But for Gold and Silver it's all so superficial. They are more popular because they're prettier. My wife for example, a non chemist, wouldn't dream of wearing a copper wedding ring. That might have something to do with the fact that copper oxide has an annoying habit of dyeing your skin green. But if she only took the time to learn about copper, to get to know it some; may be then she would be likely to turn her back on the others and wear it with pride.
Some report that copper is the first metal to be mined and crafted by humans. Whether this is or is not the case, there is evidence of civilizations using copper as far back as 10,000 years. For cultures to advance from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age it was copper that they needed. Bronze has 2 parts copper and one part tin, not silver or gold. Copper's importance to civilization has never let out and even now due to its excellent conductivity, copper is in great demand world wide, as rapidly developing nations such as China and India establish the infrastructure required to bring electricity to the homes of their citizens. In the past five years for example the price of copper has increased by more than four fold. Perhaps the greatest slap in the face to this important metal is its use in coins throughout many countries of the world. The orange brown coins are generally of low denomination while the shiny more silver like coins occupies the place at the top. Even in the United States' 5 cent piece, the nickel looks shiny and silvery, but actually contains 75% copper and only 25% nickel. Yet we don't even call it the copper.
Of course I could go on and on spotting out many interesting facts and factoids about copper and why others should warm up to it. They easily could because it's an excellent heat conductor as well, but I find this metal so interesting for many other reasons as well. Copper is one of the few tracer metals that is essential for all species. For the most part the biological requirement of copper is quite low as only a few enzymes such as cytochrome oxidase and superoxide dismutase require copper at their active sites. These generally rely on the oxidation-reduction cycling and play an important role in respiration. For humans, the requirement is quite low as well, merely 2mg of copper a day for adults. Yet too little copper in your diet can lead to high blood pressure and higher levels of cholesterol. Interestingly for copper the gap separating the required amount and the toxic amount is quite small. It may be the smallest for all the required trace metals. This is probably why it is commonly used as a pesticide, fungicide and algaecide, because such small amounts can get the jobs done.
In my opinion you're unlikely to find a metal on the periodic table that has the versatility of copper and still has not been given the respect amongst its peers that it deserves. While substantially more abundant than gold and silver it importance in history is unmatched and its utility at the macro scale is only matched by its utility at the micro scale. No other metal can compete.
So I'll try to explain this to my wife, when I present her with a pair of copper ear rings or a nice copper necklace this holiday season. My guess is she'll turn up her nose because she'll think that this is the stuff that pennies are made of, even though these days they really aren't.
Chris Smith A man married to copper, that's Steve Mylon. Next time we will be delving into the discovery of an element with a very firey temperament.
Peter Wothers His younger cousin Edmund Davy was assisting Humphry at that time and he relates how when Humphry first saw the minute globules of Potassium burst through the crust of Potash and take fire, he could not contain his joy. Davy had every right to be delighted with this amazing new metal. It looks just like other bright shiny metals but its density was less than that of water. This meant that the metal would float on water. At least it would do if it didn't explode as soon as it came into contact with water. Potassium is so reactive; it will even react and burn a hole through ice.
Chris Smith Peter Wothers with the story of element number 19, Potassium. That's in next week's Chemistry in its element. I hope you can join us. I'm Chris Smith, thank you for listening and good bye!
(Promo)
Chemistry in its elementbrought to you by the Royal society of chemistry and produced by thenakedscientists dot com. There's more information and other episodes of chemistry in its element on our website at chemistryworld dot org forward slash elements.
(End promo) |
Mining and Sourcing data: British Geological Survey – natural environment research council.
Text: John Emsley Nature’s Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements, Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition, 2011.
Additional information for platinum, gold, neodymium and dysprosium obtained from Material Value Consultancy Ltd www.matvalue.com
Data: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, CRC Press, 92nd Edition, 2011.
G. W. C. Kaye and T. H. Laby Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants, Longman, 16th Edition, 1995.
Members of the RSC can access these books through our library.