All practice pages/Interatomic theory/Elements
Element 29, a transition metal
The first metal people worked, the wire in nearly every electric cable, and the reason the Statue of Liberty is green.
Period 4, group 11. The other transition metals are tinted, and every cell opens its own article.
Like other transition metals, copper loses its outer s electrons, and often some d electrons as well, to form positive ions, and it can form more than one kind.
Sometimes found as pure native copper, but mostly mined from sulfide ores such as chalcopyrite (CuFeS₂); Chile is the largest producer. Your body needs a little copper for enzymes, and octopuses, crabs and snails carry oxygen with a copper protein, hemocyanin, which turns their blood blue.
Used for about 10,000 years; copper beads from the Middle East date to around 9000 BCE, and mixing it with tin to make bronze began the Bronze Age. The Romans got much of their copper from Cyprus and called it aes Cyprium, Cyprus metal, later cuprum, which gives the symbol Cu.
Most goes into electrical wiring, motors and electronics, because only silver conducts electricity better. It also makes water pipes, roofing and heat exchangers, and alloys: brass with zinc and bronze with tin. Copper surfaces kill many bacteria, and the green patina on old copper roofs and statues protects the metal beneath.