Why do we love copper so much?

Copper is a metal that is found naturally in the earth and like many other natural metals, we have found a way to harness this and use it for a variety of reasons. We use copper so much in our construction and in making other items that it is in fact the third most used metal across the world, with iron being the first and aluminium the second. These three metals are all pure metals that can be used with other metals and chemical compounds to make alloys such as steel. An alloy is a combination of a number of elements and this new element often takes on the properties of the other elements to make a much more versatile product.

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One of the many reasons that copper is so popular is that it is incredibly malleable which means that it can be shaped easily either by hand or by using Euromac Bending Machines like the ones from www.cotswold-machinery-sales.co.uk/euromac/horizontal-bending-machines/. These machines can be used to shape and bend a number of different metals into the shapes that are required for building materials and for the construction of cars, planes and other vehicles.

Copper is amongst only a couple of metals that appear on the periodic table that isn’t grey or silver in colour. The other non-grey metal is gold. Copper has an atomic number of 29 which means it has 29 protons in its nucleus. This is how all chemical elements that are found on the periodic table are categorised. It has the atomic symbol of Cu. It is a solid at room temperature and has a high boiling point of 1,084.62 degrees Celsius and a melting point of 2,927 degrees C.

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Copper is often used in electrical wiring and in the creation of plumbing pipes. The reason for this is that copper is a great conductor of both electricity and of heat and so it is the perfect metal to use. It is also incredibly malleable as mentioned above which means that the pipes that are used in plumbing can be bent into shape easily on-site, and they can be cut into the desired lengths. This makes it an incredibly time-efficient metal to work with as there is no waiting around for a pipe to be cut or shaped and then returned for installation. This means that the cost to the customer can also be reduced as labour time is made much more efficient.