i am doing transition metals and i wanna know 3 interesting facts about copper. thanx in advance
1. Copper is the standard benchmark for electrical conductivity. It conducts electrical current better than any other metal except silver. 2. Copper is man's oldest metal, dating back more than 10,000 years. A copper pendant discovered in what is now northern Iraq goes back to about 8700 B.C. 3. Pure copper's melting point is 1,981?F (1,083?C).
Copper is one of only two metals with distinct color (the other is gold). Copper may be the oldest elemental metal known to mankind. The Romans knew it as cuprum, and its symbol, Cu, is an abbreviation of that word. The word cuprum meant metal from Cyprus, where there were copper mines in antiquity. The Bronze Age is named after bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. Bronze is stronger and more durable than pure copper and enabled the advance of those civilizations that could produce it. A modern copper penny is mostly zinc and is only 2.4% copper. Cents made before 1982 (1943 excepted), and some made in 1982, were 95% copper and 5% zinc. The average home contains 400 pounds of copper (possibly not counting pennies in coffee cans).
