Copper

Cu · Z 29

atomic number: 29
atomic mass: 63.546
notation: Cu
group: 11: Copper
period: 4
state0c: Solid
state20c: Solid
occurrence: Primordial
density: 8.96
melting pt: 1084.62
boiling pt: 2562
discovered: -9000
abundance: 60
bio class: Trace
ore grade: 5000
ore minerals: chalcopyrite, bornite, chalcocite; oxides malachite, azurite, chrysocolla
mined as: Primary

bio role

In cytochrome c oxidase at the end of the respiratory chain, and in the haemocyanin that carries oxygen in molluscs and arthropods — which is why their blood is blue.

extraction

Porphyry ore at half a percent copper is crushed, ground and floated to a 25–30 % concentrate, flash-smelted to matte, converted to blister and electrorefined to 99.99 %; gold, silver, selenium and tellurium come out of the anode slimes. Oxide ore skips all that: heap-leached with sulfuric acid, then solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) straight to cathode.

mines

machines

Newcomen Atmospheric Engine Watt Steam Engine Wind Turbine Brushed DC Motor Induction Motor Brushless Permanent-Magnet Motor Alternator Transformer Voltaic Pile Lithium-Ion Cell Vapour-Compression Refrigerator Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engine

skills

Brazing Sand Casting Using a Multimeter Building a Circuit on a Breadboard Crimping and Wire Termination Soldering Forging

equations

Drude Conductivity Ohm's Law Bloch's Theorem Fermi–Dirac Distribution Plasma Frequency Bragg's Law Nernst Equation Fourier's Law of Heat Conduction Heat Equation

Open on the Periodic Table shelf — the interactive card, the filters, and everything alongside it.

From the All Periodical Elements database in Notion, last edited 2026-08-25. This page is the row, rendered by the build; nothing on it is written by hand.