Copper is malleable and ductile, and is used extensively, in products such as:
•Copper wire.
•Copper plumbing.
•Doorknobs and other fixtures in houses.
•Statuary: The Statue of Liberty, for example, contains 179,200 pounds (81.3 Mg) of copper.
•Electromagnets.
•Motors, especially electromagnetic motors.
•Watt's steam engine.
•Electrical relays, electrical busbars and electrical switches.
•Vacuum tubes, cathode ray tubes, and the magnetrons in microwave ovens.
•Wave guides for microwave radiation.
•There is increasing use of copper in integrated circuits, replacing aluminium because of its superior conductivity.
•Alloyed with nickel, e.g. cupronickel and Monel, used as corrosive resistant materials in shipbuilding.
•As a component of coins, often as cupronickel alloy.
•In cookware, such as frying pans.
•Most flatware (knives, forks, spoons) contains some copper (nickel silver).
•Sterling silver, if it is to be used in dinnerware, must contain a few percent copper.
•As a component in ceramic glazes, and to color glass.
•Musical instruments, especially brass instruments.
•As a biostatic surface in hospitals, and to line parts of ships to protect against barnacles and mussels. Bacteria will not grow on a copper surface because it is biostatic. Copper doorknobs are used by hospitals to reduce the transfer of disease, and Legionnaire's Disease is supressed by copper tubing in air-conditioning systems.
•Compounds, such as Fehling's solution, have applications in chemistry.
•Copper(II) sulfate is used as a poison and a water purifier. It is used in gardening powders and sprays to kill mildew.
|
Others Activities:
