Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Copper is one of the few metals that can occur in nature in a directly usable metallic form. This means that copper is a native metal. This led to very early human use in several regions, from c. 8000 BC.
Example of a copper alloy object: a Neo-Sumerian foundation figure of Gudea, circa 2100 BC, made in the lost-wax cast method, overall: 17.5 x 4.5 x 7.3 cm, probably from modern-day Iraq, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, Ohio, USA) Copper alloys are metal alloys that have copper as their principal component.
Copper occurs in its native form in Chile, China, Mexico, Russia and the USA. Various natural ores of copper are: copper pyrites (CuFeS 2), cuprite or ruby copper (Cu 2 O), copper glance (Cu 2 S), malachite (Cu(OH) 2 CuCO 3), and azurite (Cu(OH) 2 2CuCO 3). Copper pyrite is the principal ore, and yields nearly 76% of the world production of copper.
Native copper is an uncombined form of copper that occurs as a natural mineral. Copper is one of the few metallic elements to occur in native form, although it most commonly occurs in oxidized states and mixed with other elements. Native copper was an important ore of copper in historic times and was used by pre-historic peoples.
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.
Copper is the electrical conductor in many categories of electrical wiring. [3] [4] Copper wire is used in power generation, power transmission, power distribution, telecommunications, electronics circuitry, and countless types of electrical equipment. [5] Copper and its alloys are also used to make electrical contacts.
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from Latin: cuprum) and the atomic number of 29. It is easily recognisable, due to its distinct red-orange color.Copper also has a range of different organic and inorganic salts, having varying oxidation states ranging from (0,I) to (III).
Following is a list of minerals that serve as copper ores in the copper mining process: [1] Image Name Formula % Copper when pure Chalcopyrite: CuFeS 2: 34.5 Chalcocite: