Cu Copper – Element Information, Facts, Properties, Trends,Uses, Comparison with other elements

Copper History

The element Copper was discovered by Middle East in year 8000 BC in unknown place . Copper derived its name from English word (Latin cuprum)

Copper Presence: Abundance in Nature and Around Us

The table below shows the abundance of Copper in Universe, Sun, Meteorites, Earth's Crust, Oceans and Human Body.

Crystal Structure of Copper

The solid state structure of Copper is Face Centered Cubic.

The Crystal structure can be described in terms of its unit Cell. The unit Cells repeats itself in three dimensional space to form the structure.

Unit Cell Parameters

The unit cell is represented in terms of its lattice parameters, which are the lengths of the cell edges Lattice Constants (a, b and c)

and the angles between them Lattice Angles (alpha, beta and gamma).

The positions of the atoms inside the unit cell are described by the set of atomic positions ( x_i, y_i, z_i) measured from a reference lattice point.

The symmetry properties of the crystal are described by the concept of space groups. All possible symmetric arrangements of particles in three-dimensional space are described by the 230 space groups (219 distinct types, or 230 if chiral copies are considered distinct.

Space Group Name	Fm_ 3m
Space Group Number	225
Crystal Structure	Face Centered Cubic

Copper Atomic and Orbital Properties

Copper atoms have 29 electrons and the electronic shell structure is [2, 8, 18, 1] with Atomic Term Symbol (Quantum Numbers) ²S_1/2.

Atomic Number	29
Number of Electrons (with no charge)	29
Number of Protons	29
Mass Number	64
Number of Neutrons	35
Shell structure (Electrons per energy level)	[2, 8, 18, 1]
Electron Configuration	[Ar] 3d10 4s1
Valence Electrons	3d10 4s1
Oxidation State	-2 1;2;3;4
Atomic Term Symbol (Quantum Numbers)	2S1/2

Shell Structure of Copper - Electrons per energy level

n		s	p	d	f
1	K	2
2	L	2	6
3	M	2	6	10
4	N	1

Ground State Electronic Configuration of Copper - neutral Copper atom

The ground state electronic configuration of Neutral Copper atom is [Ar] 3d10 4s1. The portion of Copper configuration that is equivalent to the noble gas of the preceding period, is abbreviated as [Ar]. For atoms with many electrons, this notation can become lengthy and so an abbreviated notation is used.This is important as it is the Valence electrons 3d10 4s1, electrons in the outermost shell that determine the chemical properties of the element.

Unabbreviated electronic configuration of neutral Copper

Complete ground state electronic configuration for the Copper atom, Unabbreviated electronic configuration

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s1

Atomic Structure of Copper

Copper atomic radius is 145 pm, while it's covalent radius is 138 pm.

Atomic Spectrum of Copper

Copper Chemical Properties: Copper Ionization Energies and electron affinity

The electron affinity of Copper is 118.4 kJ/mol

Ionization Energy of Copper

Refer to table below for Ionization energies of Copper

Copper Physical Properties

Refer to below table for Copper Physical Properties

Elastic Properties

Hardness of Copper - Tests to Measure of Hardness of Element

Copper Electrical Properties

Copper is Conductor of electricity. Refer to table below for the Electrical properties of Copper

Copper Heat and Conduction Properties

Copper Magnetic Properties

Optical Properties of Copper

Acoustic Properties of Copper

Copper Thermal Properties - Enthalpies and thermodynamics

Refer to table below for Thermal properties of Copper

Enthalpies of Copper

Copper Isotopes - Nuclear Properties of Copper

Isotopes of rhodium. Naturally occurring Copper has 2 stable isotope - 63Cu, 65Cu.

Regulatory and Health - Health and Safety Parameters and Guidelines

Database Search

List of unique identifiers to search the element in various chemical registry databases