Copper, Aluminum, And Cadmium

1 Pages 339 Words

Copper, also know as CU has a atomic number of 29, and an atomic weight of 63.546. It’s melting point is 1357.62 and boiling is 2835 K Copper is a great conductor of heat and electricity. Evidence suggests that people have been using copper for at least 11,000 years. The Roman Empire obtained most of its copper from the island of Cyprus, which is where copper's name originated. (Jefferson_Lab). One of the largest deposits of the copper ore is located in the United States. Pure copper is usually too soft for most uses. People first learned about 5,000 years ago that copper can be strengthened if it is mixed with other metals. (Jefferson_Lab) Then they discovered brass which is now used in some musical instruments, screws and other hardware that must resist corrosion.

Aluminum, the element shown on the periodic table as Al has an atomic number of 13 and atomic weight of 26.981. Aluminum’s boiling point is 2792 K and 933.32 K. Aluminum is the most abundant metal on the earth, this metal was discovered by Hans Christian Oersted. In Aluminum’s early stages it was worth aroung $1200 per kilogram, but that was way to expensive for it wide use. Now the price is somewhere about $0.60 per kilogram. Today, aluminum and aluminum alloys are used in a wide variety of products: cans, foils and kitchen utensils, as well as parts of airplanes, rockets and other items that require a strong, light material. (Jefferson_Lab)

Cd on the periodic table means Cadmium, with an atomic number of 48 and an atomic weight of 112.411 this metal is as solid as they get. The melting point of this metal is 594.07k and boiling is only 1040 k. Cadmium was discovered by Friedrich Strohmeyer, a German chemist, in 1817 while studying samples of calamine. (Jefferson_Lab) Cadmium is found in zinc ores, and is also a poisonous metal. Cadmium can be used in the phosphors of black and white television sets and in the blue and green phosphors in color television set...