Copper (Cu)

Description

Copper (from the latin word “cuprum”) is a soft, malleable, ductile and highly conductive metal. Its name is given to the fact the metal was principally mined in Cyprus (aes cyprium) in the Roman era. With its symbol Cu and its characteristic red-orange colour, Copper was the first metal to be used by men (over 10000 years ago) and the first to be alloyed with another metal to create Bronze (more than 5000 years ago). It is today used as a conductor of heat and electricity, as a building material and as a constituent of various metal alloys.