Copper Facts

Facts About Copper

• Copper is an element and a mineral essential to our everyday lives.
• Copper is a primary industrial metal because of its high malleability, ductility, electrical and thermal conductivity and resistance to corrosion.
• Copper is corrosion-resistant.
• Copper is an essential nutrient in our daily diet.
• Copper has antimicrobial properties and can help prevent infection.
• Copper’s element number is 29 on the periodic table.
• Copper is classed as a nonferrous, malleable, semi-precious metal.
• Copper is used in electronics, electricity, plumbing, architecture, construction, transportation, industry, health and consumer products.
• Copper in its pure form has a melting point of 1,981°F (1,083°C, 1356°K).
• Copper’s important properties include electrical conductivity, corrosion resistance and superior heat transfer, electrical.
• Copper has more than 570 alloys and can be easily alloyed with other metals.

Facts About Copper Alloy

• Bronze and brass are the most well-known copper-based alloys.
• Brass is mainly zinc and copper.
• Bronze is primarily copper mixed with aluminium, tin, beryllium or silicon.
• Leaded yellow brass, also known as copper alloy 360, is very easy to machine.
• Leaded yellow brass is the benchmark standard for machinability when working with metals.
• Brass is the standard alloy used when making instruments such as watches, navigational aids and clocks.
• Brass pins, when rust-free, were used in very early wool-making tools.
• Brass is used for decorative gold-coloured products.
• Bronze is far more resistant to corrosion and more rigid than pure iron.
• Bronze is also harder than pure copper. Egyptians used bronze for armour, weapons, sculptures and tools.
• Bronze expands when heated and is well suited for sculptures.
• Bronze contracts as it cools, making sculptures easy to remove from moulds.
• Bronze, which contains about 20-25 per cent tin, is called bell metal.
• Bronze with a tin content under 10 per cent and a mixture of lead and zinc is called statuary bronze.
• Other copper alloys include copper-nickel-zincs and copper-nickels. There are many different alloys also.

Historical Facts About Copper

• Dating back more than 10,000 years, copper is the oldest metal used by humans.
• Neolithic man first used copper as a substitute for stone.
• Copper metallurgy emerged in Egypt around 4000 B.C. when copper was heated and cast into shaped moulds.
• In the Bronze Age, around 3500 B.C., copper was first alloyed with tin to create bronze, hence the name “Bronze Age”.
• The word copper originated from the words aes Cyprium, meaning “metal of Cyprus” by the Romans.
• Aes Cyprium was shortened to cyprium, then changed to cup rum, and after that, it became known as copper in English.
• Many everyday items in ancient Egypt were made of copper, including water vessels, razors, hand mirrors and chisels.
• Copper chisels were used to smooth the limestone blocks of the Great Pyramids.
• Copper was also influential in agriculture; hoes and picks used to harvest crops were made of copper.
• Greek soldiers wielded bronze weapons and wore bronze armour.
• Egyptians performed medical operations with instruments made of copper alloy.
• Food was cooked and served in brass or bronze kitchenware in ancient times.
• Bronze mirrors allowed people of high stature to admire themselves and their jewellery.
• Coins, made of copper and alloys, were used by early traders and world travellers and are still used today.
• Ornamental and ceremonial objects use annealing and hammering, a heating and cooling process to soften and temper metal.
• Cave dwellers from 10,000 years ago used copper tools to survive and copper axes as weapons.
• Mayans, Aztecs and Incans commonly used copper alloyed with silver and gold when they reigned over South and Central America.

Natural Resource Facts About Copper

• Copper is a valuable and essential metal, with estimated resources of more than 8.1 trillion pounds. Only 1.1 trillion pounds have been mined so far in history.
• Copper’s recycling rate is higher than any other engineering metal, and the vast majority that has been in mind is still in circulation.
• Post-consumer scrap, such as discarded automobile radiators, electric cables, and air conditioners, equates to nearly 50% of all recycled copper.
• The remainder of recycled copper is new scrap, such as turnings, chips and offcuts from screw machine production.
• Other sources of reclaimed copper include electrical plumbing tubes, wiring, automobile radiators, cartridge cases and production scrap waste.

Communication Facts About Copper

• Structured wiring using twisted pairs of copper wire can transfer data between computers at speeds up to 10 gigabits per second.
• Copper lines enable telephone companies to offer low-cost networking and communication options using High-Speed Digital Subscriber Line (HDSL) and Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) technologies.
• Copper wires allow data and voice transmissions to run simultaneously on phone wires.

Electrical Facts About Copper

• The standard electricity benchmark is copper, which conducts electrical current better than other metals except for silver.
• Copper is commonly refined to 99.98% purity before it is approved for many electrical applications.
• Connectors are required for the flow of electricity, and copper is the favoured material for conductors and high current distribution for power or data and telecommunication “signal’ level currents.
• When used in electric power generators, copper-wound stators and rotors convert mechanical energy into electric current.
• Copper is used to deliver wind energy because of its low electrical resistance, high conductivity, and resistance to corrosion.
• Die-cast copper rotors in electric motors have been manufacturers’ “holy grail” for many years.
• SUVs and hybrid cars use copper-wound induction motors that draw power from batteries.
• Larger buses and hybrid trucks can be equipped with motors using highly efficient copper rotors when road-tested copper rotors reduce fuel costs by more than a third.
• Copper rotor motors are used in the world-renowned Tesla all-electric vehicles.
• Copper provides the matrix in the superconductors used in Switzerland’s CERN Large Hadron Collider.
• Copper is a heat exchange medium in hot water systems and solar heating.

Plumbing Facts About Copper

• Copper tubing was found in the Pyramid of Cheops plumbing system in Egypt and was dated to be more than 5,000 years old.
• Copper tubing is a significant application for fuel gas, and it is becoming more common for home builders to use high-pressure lines. Copper tubing is the most cost-effective way to connect ranges, gas ovens, water heaters, fireplaces, outdoor barbecues, clothes fryers, and propane or natural gas supplies.
• Metal manufacturers introduced a new lightweight yet durable drawn copper tube around 1927; it could be quickly soldered together with other copper fittings.
• Copper tubing is the standard material for indoor water systems in homes today.

Consumer Products Facts About Copper

• The oldest musical instruments were made with copper alloys.
• The largest swinging bell is the “World Peace Bell.” It’s 12 feet high, 66,000 pounds, and made from “bell bronze.”
• In the 17th century, brass became the preferred material for mechanical clocks because it worked efficiently and was corrosion-resistant. Before that, iron was the preferred material.
• Copper and its alloys are widely used for coffins, plaques, vaults and cremation urns because of their non-corrosive and durable properties.
• Copper vessels are used to distil liquor and brew beer. This helps keep the distillate sweet by removing unpleasant-tasting sulfur-based compounds from the alcohol.

Call Reclamet, the copper recycling specialist you can rely on.

Call: 01843 800800
Email: enquiries@reclamet.co.uk