Copper

Learn more

Unlock the world around you with ICDD's PDF® databases! These PDF entries offer valuable information on minerals, metals, and alloys to help researchers and professionals in fields like materials science, chemistry, and geology examine what's around them. Start exploring with ICDD's PDF databases today.

Copper alloys are also valued for their acoustic quality, especially brass, an alloy of copper and zinc. There are so many brass-based musical instruments that an entire subset of them was named brass.

Musical Instruments

View the interactive PDF Entry here!

Entries All Around Us

The 3D Structure found in a PDF entry shows the three-dimensional representations of molecular structures. Click the play button to see the structure in 360 degrees.

Copper 3D Structure

Copper wire, tubing, and piping are still some of the most commonly used building materials in the plumbing and electrical industries.

Home Services

As the Egyptians documented, copper is known to kill many germs on contact.

Medical uses

Cu • PDF Entry 00-004-0836

Copper

Copper is an easily molded base metal that is often added to precious metals to improve their elasticity, flexibility, hardness, colour, and resistance to corrosion.

Jewelry

Copper use in home services

• Motor parts: Copper conducts both heat and electricity more efficiently than many other metals
• Wiring: Copper is ductile, meaning it can be hammered into sheets and stretched into wires without breaking
• Type M copper piping: This piping works well for residential builds because it’s thin and affordable
• Industrial machinery: to help facilitate heat exchange
• Copper roofing: long-lasting with minimal upkeep
• Plumbing: its antimicrobial properties and malleability make it an ideal choice for industrial use

Copper surfaces

Dr. Bill Keevil at the University of Southampton found that MRSA (an antibiotic-resistant strain of bacterial staph) cannot survive on copper surfaces the way it can on the platinum metals often used in hospital building railings, doorknobs, and beds. With the help of his research, hospitals are installing copper touch surfaces around the world to halt the spread of bacterial infections in hospital settings.

Copper is one of the most important and popular metals in the world, and dates back more than 10,000 years. For millennia, many cultures have prized it for its health and wellness benefits, as well as for its rich and enduring beauty. Copper has been used for centuries as sanitary material perfect for piping clean water. The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Aztecs used its compounds to treat diseases and maintain hygiene. With its antimicrobial, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties, wearing copper can help protect your body and increase your energy.

Copper Alloys in Music

PDF Entry: 00-004-0836

Copper, and copper alloys in particular, were used for coinage as early as the 3rd century BCE. Initially, copper lumps were used as coinage, with their value depending on size. However, this soon changed. Coins created from copper alloys became popular and changed depending on which ruler was in power. For example, Julius Caesar preferred his coins to be made from brass (an alloy of copper and zinc), while Octavius Augustus Caesar’s coins were made from a copper-lead-tin alloy. Copper was the ideal metal for coin-making. Copper and its alloys actively resisted wear and corrosion over time, and they could be manipulated to include detailed works of art on their faces. They were also recyclable. Since the time of the Ancient Romans, copper has spread throughout the world and its use in coinage is global. In the United States, gold and silver were originally used for coins, but the price of these precious metals became too much. Instead, copper and its alloys took their place. American pennies were originally made from pure copper, and alloys of copper and nickel were used to produce dimes and nickels. The World Wars caused a copper shortage in America, and so the metal was conserved for use in weaponry and ammunition. Today, many bronze-colored coins are made from copper-plated zinc or steel. This includes the U.S. penny and the United Kingdom’s 1-pound and 2-pound coins.