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Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orange color.
The chemical elements can be broadly divided into metals, metalloids, and nonmetals according to their shared physical and chemical properties.All elemental metals have a shiny appearance (at least when freshly polished); are good conductors of heat and electricity; form alloys with other metallic elements; and have at least one basic oxide.
In metallurgy, non-ferrous metals are metals or alloys that do not contain iron (allotropes of iron, ferrite, and so on) in appreciable amounts.. Generally more costly than ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals are used because of desirable properties such as low weight (e.g. aluminium), higher conductivity (e.g. copper), [1] non-magnetic properties or resistance to corrosion (e.g. zinc). [2]
Noble metals tend to be resistant to oxidation and other forms of corrosion, and this corrosion resistance is often considered to be a defining characteristic. Some exceptions are described below. Copper is dissolved by nitric acid and aqueous potassium cyanide.
Nonmetals show more variability in their properties than do metals. [1] Metalloids are included here since they behave predominately as chemically weak nonmetals.. Physically, they nearly all exist as diatomic or monatomic gases, or polyatomic solids having more substantial (open-packed) forms and relatively small atomic radii, unlike metals, which are nearly all solid and close-packed, and ...
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids, such as arsenic or silicon.
Examples of metal-like properties occurring in nonmetallic elements include: Silicon has an electronegativity (1.9) comparable with metals such as cobalt (1.88), copper (1.9), nickel (1.91) and silver (1.93); [62] The electrical conductivity of graphite exceeds that of some metals; [n] Selenium can be drawn into a wire; [51]
Copper alloys are metal alloys that have copper as their principal component. They have high resistance against corrosion . Of the large number of different types, the best known traditional types are bronze , where tin is a significant addition, and brass , using zinc instead.