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- DictionaryCop·per/ˈkäpər/
noun
- 1. a red-brown metal, the chemical element of atomic number 29.
- 2. a copper coin, especially a penny: British "you could hire a raft for a few coppers"
verb
- 1. cover or coat (something) with copper: "some iron hulls were sheathed with wood and then coppered"
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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.
Copper is a reddish metallic element that is easily formed into sheets and wires and is one of the best conductors of heat and electricity. It can also refer to a coin or token made of copper or bronze, a large boiler (as for cooking), or a subfamily of small butterflies with copper-colored wings.
Copper is a malleable, ductile, metallic element having a reddish-brown color. It is used in large quantities as an electrical conductor and in the manufacture of alloys, such as brass and bronze. It can also refer to a coin, a butterfly, a container, a tool, or a slang term for a police officer.
- Overview
- Occurrence, uses, and properties
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copper (Cu), chemical element, a reddish, extremely ductile metal of Group 11 (Ib) of the periodic table that is an unusually good conductor of electricity and heat. Copper is found in the free metallic state in nature. This native copper was first used (c. 8000 bce) as a substitute for stone by Neolithic (New Stone Age) humans. Metallurgy dawned i...
Native copper is found at many locations as a primary mineral in basaltic lavas and also as reduced from copper compounds, such as sulfides, arsenides, chlorides, and carbonates. (For mineralogical properties of copper, see the table of native elements.) Copper occurs combined in many minerals, such as chalcocite, chalcopyrite, bornite, cuprite, malachite, and azurite. It is present in the ashes of seaweeds, in many sea corals, in the human liver, and in many mollusks and arthropods. Copper plays the same role of oxygen transport in the hemocyanin of blue-blooded mollusks and crustaceans as iron does in the hemoglobin of red-blooded animals. The copper present in humans as a trace element helps catalyze hemoglobin formation. A porphyry copper deposit in the Andes Mountains of Chile is the greatest known deposit of the mineral. By the early 21st century Chile had become the world’s leading producer of copper. Other major producers include Peru, China, and the United States.
Copper is commercially produced mainly by smelting or leaching, usually followed by electrodeposition from sulfate solutions. For a detailed treatment of the production of copper, see copper processing. The major portion of copper produced in the world is used by the electrical industries; most of the remainder is combined with other metals to form alloys. (It is also technologically important as an electroplated coating.) Important series of alloys in which copper is the chief constituent are brasses (copper and zinc), bronzes (copper and tin), and nickel silvers (copper, zinc, and nickel, no silver). There are many useful alloys of copper and nickel, including Monel; the two metals are completely miscible. Copper also forms an important series of alloys with aluminum, called aluminum bronzes. Beryllium copper (2 percent Be) is an unusual copper alloy in that it can be hardened by heat treatment. Copper is a part of many coinage metals. Long after the Bronze Age passed into the Iron Age, copper remained the metal second in use and importance to iron. By the 1960s, however, cheaper and much more plentiful aluminum had moved into second place in world production.
Copper is one of the most ductile metals, not especially strong or hard. Strength and hardness are appreciably increased by cold-working because of the formation of elongated crystals of the same face-centred cubic structure that is present in the softer annealed copper. Common gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide are soluble in molten copper and greatly affect the mechanical and electrical properties of the solidified metal. The pure metal is second only to silver in thermal and electrical conductivity. Natural copper is a mixture of two stable isotopes: copper-63 (69.15 percent) and copper-65 (30.85 percent).
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Because copper lies below hydrogen in the electromotive series, it is not soluble in acids with the evolution of hydrogen, though it will react with oxidizing acids, such as nitric and hot, concentrated sulfuric acid. Copper resists the action of the atmosphere and seawater. Exposure for long periods to air, however, results in the formation of a thin green protective coating (patina) that is a mixture of hydroxocarbonate, hydroxosulfate, and small amounts of other compounds. Copper is a moderately noble metal, being unaffected by nonoxidizing or noncomplexing dilute acids in the absence of air. It will, however, dissolve readily in nitric acid and in sulfuric acid in the presence of oxygen. It is also soluble in aqueous ammonia or potassium cyanide in the presence of oxygen because of the formation of very stable cyano complexes upon dissolution. The metal will react at red heat with oxygen to give cupric oxide, CuO, and, at higher temperatures, cuprous oxide, Cu2O. It reacts on heating with sulfur to give cuprous sulfide, Cu2S.
Copper is a reddish, ductile metal that is a good conductor of electricity and heat. It is found in nature as a native metal or in various minerals and compounds, and it is used in many alloys and applications.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Copper is a reddish-brown metal used for making wire and coins, and also a colour. Learn more about its properties, uses, and synonyms from Cambridge Dictionary.
Copper is a reddish-brown metal that conducts heat and electricity well. It is used for making wire, coins, and other products. Learn more about copper's properties, uses, and color in this dictionary entry.
Learn the meaning, properties, and uses of copper, a reddish-brown metallic element that is widely used for electrical and thermal conductors, in alloys such as brass and bronze, and as a coin. Find synonyms, antonyms, related terms, and examples of copper in different contexts and languages.
