Copper Facts
Copper Facts
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| Interesting Copper Facts: |
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| Copper occurs in nature in its native form. |
| Copper is found in the Earth's crust at about fifty parts per million. |
| The largest single piece of natural copper weighed 420 tons, and was discovered in the US in 1857. |
| Its history as a metal used by civilizations dates back at least 10,000 years. |
| The archaeological find Otzi the Iceman (3300 BC) was found with a nearly pure copper-headed ax. |
| His hair revealed arsenic at high levels, which researchers believe may have been from copper smelting. |
| Other than the use of copper, only meteoric iron and gold have been used longer. |
| Copper smelting was invented by several different ancient global civilizations simultaneously. |
| Mining for copper actually has been traced back as far as almost 3000 BC in England. |
| About 4000 years after copper smelting was discovered, the alloying of copper with tin to produce bronze began. |
| Copper is fully recyclable without breakdown in quality. |
| Brass, bronze, cupronickel, carat, and aluminum bronze are all important alloys of copper. |
| Due to its resistance to corrosion, copper alloyed with nickel is used in making parts that will be repeatedly exposed to seawater. |
| Copper's key industrial uses include electrical wiring due to its high level of conductivity. |
| Other uses include plumbing and roofing materials. |
| Copper is vital in small amounts in animals and plants. |
| In humans, copper is necessary for aiding the uptake of iron. |
| A deficiency in copper can actually mimic an iron deficiency because the two elements are related in the body. |
| Copper easily forms simple binary compounds. |
| The most common binary compounds of copper are sulfides, oxides, and halides. |
| Of all the copper mined since ancient times, 96% of it has been since 1900. |
| At the rate that copper is currently mined and consumed, there is about five million years' worth on Earth. |
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