Copper

Copper is one of the few metals that is found in its pure form as a un-compounded mineral.  As a result it was known by some of the oldest civilizations on record.  Since then it has been used extensively in both its pure and alloyed form.

Copper is a malleable and ductile metal with reddish / brownish colour and exceptional electrical and thermal conductivity, second only to silver.  Coppers mechanical properties allow it to be easily be drawn into wire form, along with coppers excellent electrical conductivity and most importantly coppers relatively low cost has resulted in its extensive use in many different types of electrical work.  Coppers’ high thermal conductivity also makes it useful as heat sinks or heat exchangers. 

For many applications pure copper is too soft.  As a result copper is used in many different alloy combinations, such as brass (copper-zinc) and bronze (copper-tin).  Copper and its alloys have numerous applications, such as piping, architecture and industry, household products etc..   Copper is also one of the major coinage metals.

Further properties of Copper have been outlined below:

• Copper Melting point 1084.62 °C
• Copper Density 8920 kgm^-3
• Copper Young’s modulus 130 GPa
• Copper Poisson’s ratio 0.34
• Copper Electrical Resistivity 1.72 x 10^-8 Wm
• Copper Thermal Conductivity 400 W m^-1 K^-1