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Copper

Compounds Of Copper



In its compounds, copper can have a valence of either +1 (cuprous compounds) or +2 ( cupric compounds). Cuprous compounds are not stable in water, and when dissolved they turn into a mixture of cupric ions and metallic copper.



Copper compounds and minerals are often green or blue. The most common minerals include malachite, a bright green carbonate, and azurite, a blue-green basic carbonate. Among the major copper ores are cuprite, CuO, chalcopyrite, CuFeS2, and bornite, Cu5FeS4. Large deposits of copper ores are found in the United States, Canada, Chile, central Africa, and Russia.

Cupric sulfate, CuSO4 • 5H2O, is also called blue vitriol. These poisonous blue crystals are used to kill algae in the purification of water, and as an agricultural dust or spray for getting rid of insects and fungi.

See also Electric conductor.


Resources

Books

Braungart, Michael, and William McDonough. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. New York: North Point Press, 2002.

Emsley, John. Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Greenwood, N. N., and A. Earnshaw. Chemistry of the Elements. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinneman Press, 1997.

Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. 4th ed. Suppl. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998.

Parker, Sybil P., ed. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Chemistry. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993.


Robert L. Wolke

Additional topics

Science EncyclopediaScience & Philosophy: Condensation to CoshCopper - History Of Copper, Making Pure Copper, Uses Of Copper, Compounds Of Copper