copper

• Description
• General information
• Physical data
• Radii
• Electronegativities
• Solid state structure
• Temperatures
• Enthalpies
• Ionization Enthalpies
• Isotopes
• Further information

Description

Copper is one of the most important metals. Copper is reddish with a bright metallic lustre. It is malleable, ductile, and a good conductor of heat and electricity (second only to silver in electrical conductivity). Its alloys, brass and bronze, are very important. Monel and gun metals also contain copper. Apparently the reason that policemen in the USA are nicknamed "cops" or "coppers" is to do with their uniforms which used to have copper buttons.

The most important compounds are the oxide and the sulphate, (blue vitriol).

General information

Discoveror: Known since ancient times
Date discovered:
Discovered at: not known
Meaning of name: From the Latin word "cuprum" meaning the island of "Cyprus"

Physical data

Standard state: solid at 298 K
Colour: copper metallic
Density of solid at ambient temperature/kg m^-3: 8920
Molar volume/cm³: 7.11

Radii /pm

Atomic: 145
Covalent (single bond):
Pauling radius for the ion [Cu]^-: no data

Valence shell orbital radius maxima (R_max)

orbital	s	p	d	f
radius	137.4	no data	32.5	no data

Electronegativities

Both values are quoted on the Pauling scale.

Pauling: 1.90
Allred Rochow: 1.75

Crystal Structure

structure: ccp (cubic close-packed)

The following CrystalMaker image represents the solid state structure. For most elements, the most stable allotrope is illustrated. Try WebElements version 2 for interactive virtual reality and CHIME images.

Temperatures (/K)

melting point: 1357.77
boiling point: 3200

Enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

fusion: 13.1
vaporization: 300

single bond enthalpies:

Cu-F	Cu-Cl	Cu-Br	Cu-I	Cu-Cu
no data	no data	no data	192	176.52

Ionization enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

Number	Enthalpy
1st	745.5
2nd	1957.9
3rd	3554
4th	5330
5th	7710
6th	9940
7th	13400
8th	16000

Isotopes

This section gives some data for naturally occurring isotopes.

Nominal mass	Accurate mass	% natural abundance
63Cu	62.9295989 (17)	69.17 (3)
65Cu	64.9277929 (20)	30.83 (3)

Further Information

• Additional information about WebElements 1.2.2
• This is a licensed copy (here is the full list) of WebElements 1.2.2 and contains a subset of the material contained within the main version of WebElements (version 2)
• For further information please try WebElements version 2
• Sheffield Chemdex: perhaps the largest internet chemistry directory
• Sheffield Chemputer: interactive chemistry calculators on the WWW