A red-brown transition element; a.n. 29; r.a.m. 63.546; r.d. 8.92; m.p. 1083.4°C; b.p. 2567°C. Copper has been extracted for thousands of years; it was known to the Romans as cuprum, a name linked with the island of Cyprus. The metal is malleable and ductile and an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. Copper-containing minerals include cuprite (Cu2O) as well as azurite (2CuCO3.Cu(OH)2), chalcopyrite (CuFeS2), and malachite (CuCO3.Cu(OH)2). Native copper appears in isolated pockets in some parts of the world. The large mines in the USA, Chile, Canada, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Peru extract ores containing sulphides, oxides, and carbonates. They are usually worked by smelting, leaching, and electrolysis. Copper metal is used to make electric cables and wires. Its alloys, brass (copper-zinc) and bronze (copper-tin), are used extensively.
Water does not attack copper but in moist atmospheres it slowly forms a characteristic green surface layer (patina). The metal will not react with dilute sulphuric or hydrochloric acids, but with nitric acid oxides of nitrogen are formed. Copper compounds contain the element in the +1 and +2 oxidation states. Copper(I) compounds are mostly white (the oxide is red). Copper(II) salts are blue in solution. The metal also forms a large number of coordination complexes. It is thought that the characteristic colour of copper is due to overlapping energy bands.
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