•Intro •Why do we need copper???

•Acknowledgement

•What if there’s no copper???

Our planet earth is believed to be the only planet capable to support life. It is the unique composition of the earth which makes this possible.

Part 1 – Our Planet:

Mr. Ignorant: So what is the earth’s ‘unique’ composition??? Dr. Know-it-all: The 118 and yet to be discovered elements of the periodic table.

Mr. I: Are each of these elements important?

Dr. K: Yes, if any one of these elements where absent, life on earth may not have been possible.

Part 2 – A conversation in a NASA secret research facility between a senior director and a new recruit:

Mr. I: Really???

Dr . K: Well, then let’s study this in detail,Consider if one of these elements was absent. Part 3- Our Project:

For studying this in detail, in our project, we have considered a particularly important element to the human society, the metal which began a new chapter in human history - Coppe

r

And we first examine copper ‘s importance to us and our planet in the first section:

‘ Why do we need copper??? ’

Later we imagine what would have been the fate of our planet in it’s absence and how we could best cope up in that situation in the main section of this project: What if there’s no copper???

For now, the formal introduction.

Copper has played a significant part in the history

of humankind, it has been used as an easily accessible uncompounded metal for thousands of

years from the times of the Pharaohs to that of ours. During the times of the Roman Empire,

copper was principally mined in Cyrus, hence the origin of the name of the metal as Cyprium, "metal of Cyprus", later shortened to Cuprum from which

it got its chemical symbol - Cu.

We get copper from copper ore which is found in many parts of the world and it is extracted from large open pit mines like those shown below

Why Do We Need Copper???

Applications

Copper is malleable and ductile, a good conductor of heat and, when very pure, a

good conductor of electricity.It is used extensively, in

products such as:

Electronics Copper wire. Electromagnets. Printed circuit boards. Lead free solder, alloyed with tin. Electrical machines, especially electromagnetic motors,

generators and transformers. Electrical relays, electrical busbars and electrical switches. Vacuum tubes, cathode ray tubes, and the magnetrons in

microwave ovens. Wave guides for microwave radiation. Integrated circuits and computer chips, increasingly

replacing aluminium because of its superior electrical conductivity.

As a material in the manufacture of computer heat sinks, as a result of its superior heat dissipation capacity to aluminium.

Architecture

Copper has been used as water-proof roofing material since ancient times, giving many old buildings their greenish roofs and domes.

Statuary: The Statue of Liberty, for example, contains 179,220 pounds of copper.

Alloyed with nickel, e.g. cupronickel and Monel, used as corrosive assistant materials in shipbuilding.

Watt's steam engine. Copper nails were also used.

Minneapolis City Hall

The Statue of Liberty

These are some of structures made of copper .

The unique ability of copper of turning into beautiful bluish-green

color over time and corrosion of only 0.005%

of an inch in a century makes it ideal for coating

of statues and roofs.

Household Products Copper cookware is the most highly regarded by chefs around the world. Its noted advantages - high heat transfer (the highest of any material used in cooking) plus uniform heating (no hot spots).

Coinage

As a component of coins, often as cupronickel alloy.

Coins in the following countries all contain copper: European Union (Euro), United States, United Kingdom (sterling), Australia and New Zealand.

Ironically, U.S. Nickels are 75.0% copper by weight and only 25.0% nickel.

Copper plumbing fittings and compression tubes.

Doorknobs and other fixtures in houses. Roofing, guttering, and rainspouts on

buildings. 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 some percentage of copper.

Copper water heating cylinders

Other Uses

Chemical Applications

Compounds, such as Fehling's solution, have applications in chemistry.

As a component in ceramic glazes, and to color glass.

Biochemical Applications Copper coated ships’ hull performs very well in

protecting the hull from invasion by worm, and in preventing the growth of weed, for when in contact with water, the copper produced a poisonous film, composed mainly of oxychloride, that deterred these marine creatures.

Copper has a biostatic ability, it doesn’t allow microorganism, bacteria and other life forms to grow on it.

Copper doorknobs are used by hospitals to reduce the transfer of disease, and Legionnaires' disease is suppressed by copper tubing in air-conditioning systems.

Copper(II) sulfate is used as a fungicide and as algae control in domestic lakes and ponds. It is used in gardening powders and sprays to kill mildew.

Copper-64 can be used as a Positron emission tomography radiotracer for medical imaging. When complexed with a chelate it can be used to treat cancer through radiation therapy.

Biochemical Applications

Other Uses

Musical instruments, especially brass instruments and cymbals.

Class D Fire Extinguisher, used in powder form to extinguish lithium fires by covering the burning metal and performing similar to a heat sink.

Textile fibers to create antimicrobial protective fabrics.

Future Uses The advent of high temperature superconductors, today’s hottest technical area, opens new possibility. Superconductors need to be surrounded by “shunt” materials, which can carry heavy currents around faults that occasionally occur in the superconductor. The mini-materials battle between copper and aluminum for the best such material for current-technology superconductors such as niobium-titanium has been won by copper. Superconductivity could be an important new market for copper, particularly in transmission lines, energy storage devices, and other applications not yet contemplated.

Substitutes for Copper

1. SilverCopper conducts electrical current better than any

other metal except silver. Silver used to be considered the key component in producing electrical principal parts such as contacts used on low-voltage electrical appliances. The silver alloy, which contains cadmium, can drive prices up and create pollution. The cheaper copper substitute, however, is an environmentally-friendly product.

Substitutes for Copper 2. Aluminium

Aluminium is probably the strongest contender of copper and can replace copper in electrical wires and equipments, automobile radiators and refrigerator tubing. However, it still lose to copper in doing copper’s job. Aluminium is not as corrosion resistant as copper. Copper has more tensile strength (which increases durability), less resistance (less electricity wasted in wires), has less weight and cross-section for the same conductivity, it needs special protection and constant inspections and maintenance.

Substitutes for Copper

• Titanium & Steel can be used as substitutes for copper used in heat exchangers.

• Steel is used in artillery shell casings

• Plastic can substitute copper in water pipes and plumbing fixtures.

• Gold was the main element in alloys used for dental restoration. But now copper is used and at very cheap price.

Substitutes for Copper• Ultrasound and X-ray imaging can replace

Positron Emission Tomography imaging which uses copper.

• Plastics are an ongoing threat to copper in plumbing applications but their usage is still held back by their susceptibility to permeation by gasoline and other organics and to mechanical damage. They also do not exhibit copper’s bacteriostatic properties.

What if there’s no Copper???

Unfortunately for us, there’s no substitute for the biostatic ability of copper. There will be higher chances of spread of diseases unless door knobs are sterilized regularly which is somewhat troublesome, and the same goes for non-copper air-conditioning system tubes. In hospitals, it is extremely important to prevent the spread of diseases.

What if there’s no copper??? There is an increase demand in copper. The

most common and important use of copper is in wiring. Though there’re substitutes for copper in this sector such as silver and aluminium, they are less cost effective. Silver is too expensive while aluminium is not as effective as copper and needs more frequent maintenance and replacements which adds up to a higher price.

If copper doesn’t exist and we have to resort to aluminium cost of building constructions and electrical appliances, like your computer, your cell phone that relies on copper for its intricate circuit board, will increase.

Thanks to its superiority in electrical conductivity, it replaces aluminium in computer chips. Without copper, our computers may not be as fast as it is now.

We would first like to thank our Chemistry teacher Miss Kong Yee Ching for her support and guidance without which the completion of this project would have been a ‘Mission Impossible ’ for us. Secondly, we would like to thank our school, NUS High School Of Math & Science for it’s superb infrastructural support.

We would also like to thank the following search engines and websites for their contribution in the making of this project :

                                                        

     

WWW.WebElements.comwww.copper.org

A Project By

Huang Ting Yi Aivan Raj Kristacia Kang