Copper

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Copper

By Amanda Dainton and Elena Jungden

media type="custom" key="7988188" align="center" = Introduction = = = Copper is a very interesting element. Its early beginnings with the Greeks and other races before them make it seem as if it has been around forever. Then, it was used to make weapons and other tools. Today, copper is used to make electrical wires, plumbing, pennies, and many other products that are used everyday. In fact, the use of copper is mainly split into five different industries: construction, electrical and electronic products, transportation, industrial machinery and equipment, and consumer and general products. This element had grown from humble beginnings to being nearly everywhere we go and has lasted through time. Without it, where would we be today?

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= History = = = (Origin of name: Latin- cuprum meaning the island of Cyprus, the land where it was thought to be discovered) The discovery of copper goes far back into the prehistoric times. In fact, there are copper beads that have been found in Iraq that have been dated back to 8700BC. There is no single discoverer of this element, but 10,000 years ago it was the only metal known to man so it was put to use. Methods of the ores were used to refine the metal in around 5000BC (making azurite and malachite) and about 1000 years later it was also being used in North Africa for pottery. Copper was fairly easy to shape into functional tools which was part of the reason of why it was used so early on. Copper is also a very bright and flashy color, so there is evidence that it was also used as decorative objects that signified that the craftsman that created the objects were very skilled. But from there, people also started to mix metals together resulting in stronger alloys thus having stronger tools. For example, brass is a combination of zinc and copper, and bronze is copper and tin mixed together. Bronze became so widely used in Europe that it resulted in the Bronze Age (2500 BC - 500 BC). The Bronze age also brought a lot of trade with it; copper and bronze were often traded across the world for other valuables such as furs and food. This also led to an improvement in living standards. Copper was also very important to the Greek people as well. They used the alloys that created bronze and other metals that were deemed useful in there society. Copper was also often associated with the Greek god Venus and and Aphrodite as well as alchemy; therefore copper is one of the elements that has an alchemical symbol. Copper was used in a very similar manner throughout different societies in the past, and we still use it a great amount today. The importance of copper is even mentioned in the bible: "Men know how to mine silver and refine gold, to dig iron from the earth and melt copper from stone" (Job 28:1–2). = Economics =

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Copper is also very important to the economy. But it didn't start out that way. As with most things, copper started out with a big demand, but the demand grew smaller when there weren't any new uses for copper being found. That all changed in the 19th century, when it was discovered that copper could be used in electrical products and in the construction of buildings. The demand for copper rose and so the search began for more mining sites. As you can see looking at the graphs below, the use of copper has been on a general climb since 1955 (there are a few years when it went down, but it rose again within two years) and the price of copper fluctuate a lot. As a result of the fluctuation in price, it is very hard for miners to make a lot of money (it takes about ten years for a copper mine to make any money). Miners then try to produce less copper when the price is low to raise the demand for it and increase the price.



= Environment = Copper can be found in many minerals deposits that are located in Canada, Chile, USA, Germany, Italy, Zambia, Peru, Australia and Zaire. Many of the important copper ores are oxides, sulfides, and carbonates. Copper is a natural occurring element that is spread through other natural phenomenons. For example, copper generally enters the air from the burning of fossil fuels. And from there, it stays in the air until it starts to rain, and when it does precipitate, it soaks into the soil. This can lead to many plants not having the ability to live in copper infested soil and it can pose serious threats to farmlands. It can also cause problems for the soil creatures as well. Earthworms and microorganisms are at risk, as well as sheep can be effected as well. They can absorb too much concentration of copper and get poisoned. Too much copper in soil can have negative effects on the environment and its creatures. Other ways that copper can be spread is from decaying vegetation, forest fires, sea spray and wind blown dust. These are just natures work, but human activity can also produce copper to appear in the environment. Copper can often be located near mines and industrial settings as well as near landfills and waste disposals. Because of the amount that humans have put copper to work, copper quantities in the environment have increased.

This table of abundances show the amounts of copper in ppb (parts per billion) in terms of weight and the numbers of atoms. For the less common elements, the amount of abundance should be taken in with uncertainty.


 * ~ Location ||~ ppb by weight ||~ ppb by atoms ||
 * [|Universe] || 60 || 1 ||
 * [|Sun] || 700 || 10 ||
 * [|Meteorite (carbonaceous)] || 110000 || 31000 ||
 * [|Crustal rocks] || 68000 || 22000 ||
 * [|Sea water] || 3 || 0.29 ||
 * [|Stream] || 6 || 0.09 ||
 * [|Human] || 1000 || 99 ||

= Health = Copper is all over the place in our world; it is in our food, it is in our air, it is in our water. But not to worry, because copper is an essential need to maintain our health. There is evidence that points to the fact the copper is very important to help enhance the human nervous and cardiovascular system. As well as improving the skin, bone, immune and reproductive systems. Medical uses of copper go as far back as 2600BC and 2200 BC as there was documented uses of it in the Egyptian medical text, The Papyrus. There are records of copper being used to sterilize wounds as well as water. More modernly, copper was first observed to have a role in the immune system in 1867 when the cholera epidemic was spreading through Paris. The copper miners seemed to be immune to the disease which proved that copper was an important factor in the human immune system. But there can also be hazards and risks associated with copper. Dr. Bill Walsh has some negative effects that can occur from high copper.

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The levels of concentration of copper that is in the air is usually very low, so breathing in the copper does not create the problems. Problems occur from over exposure. For example, people who live near copper ores are more susceptible to higher levels of copper in their bodies. Also, people who still use use copper plumbing can ingest copper from their tap water which can even lead to metal fever which is similar to a flu. Copper is generally not a danger to humans, as we need it to keep our health in tack. Its just when people are exposed to very high concentrations and have high levels of copper in their body when there could be possible need for worry. = Chemistry/Physics = Copper, whose symbol is Cu, has an atomic number of 29 and an atomic mass of 63.546 atomic mass units. It is in the eleventh group, which is called the coinage metals because it also contains gold and silver, and in the fourth period of the periodic table, thus making it a transition metal. The characteristics of copper include being able to be forced into a different shape without breaking and being one of the best conductors of heat and electricity. It has 29 electrons, 29 protons, 35 neutrons, and an electron configuration of 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s1 3d10. Copper has six isotopes (Cu-61,Cu-62, Cu-63, Cu-64, Cu-65, and Cu-67), with Cu-65 being stable and the one that occurs the most often in nature. The atomic structure and crystal structure of copper are pictured below.



= Interesting Facts = The nickname "cops" for policemen comes from the fact that there were copper buttons on their uniforms.

When the demand for and price of copper plummeted during the Great Depression, Arizona made its license plates from copper to increase the demand and keep miners in the state employed.

Copper has the second highest electrical conductivity of all of the elements.

Five industries are mainly responsible for the use of copper: forty percent of all copper is used in construction, twenty-four percent in electrical and electronic products, thirteen percent in transportation equipment (cars, trucks, etc), twelve percent in industrial machinery and equipment, and ten percent in general and consumer products.

A human born today will use about 1,750 pounds of copper in his/her lifetime.

Some crustaceans have hemocyanin, which circulates the blood like hemoglobin but contains copper instead of iron. This causes their blood to be blue instead of red.

When copper reacts with carbon dioxide, the metal changes from a shiny red color to green. This is why the Statue of Liberty, which is plated with copper, is green.

From 1793 to today, the United States penny has contained at least some amount of copper in its composition. The only year it didn't was in 1943 when copper was needed for the war effort.

If you are interested in how much copper you have in your body, just follow the link to calculate it! http://www.webelements.com/copper/biology.html = = = Works Cited =

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//Copper//. Perf. Shellac. 27 May 2008. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. .This is the music video for Shellac's song "Copper".

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The Cubic Crystal Structure of Copper. Digital image. //WebElements Periodic Table of the Elements//. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. .

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//Fig 2: Historical Copper Prices 1966-1993//. Digital image. //Arizona Mining Association//. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. .

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