Metals and their Compounds 4

CHEMISTRY SSS3 First term

WEEK 4

Metals and their Compounds 4

Performance objectives

Students should be able to:

1. Explain the extraction of copper.
2. Give at least three uses of copper.

Content

Copper

Copper (Cu), chemical element, a reddish, extremely ductile metal of Group 11 (Ib) of the periodic table that is an unusually good conductor of electricity and heat. Copper is found in the free metallic state in nature. This native copper was first used (c. 8000 BCE) as a substitute for stone by Neolithic (New Stone Age) humans. Metallurgy dawned in Mesopotamia as copper was cast to shape in molds (c. 4000 BCE), was reduced to metal from ores with fire and charcoal, and was intentionally alloyed with tin as bronze…