Number of Electrons per Energy Level

First Energy Level: 2

Second Energy Level: 8

Third Energy Level: 18

Fourth Energy Level: 1

Electron Configuration:

1s².2s².2p⁶.3s².3p⁶.4s¹.3d¹⁰

Shell structure: 2.8.18.1

Copper is a fairly abundant element. It occurs free in nature to some extent, but most copper is extracted from ores - in oxide ores as cuprite and in sulphide ores as chalcocite, chalcopyrite, and bornite. It is found chiefly in the Ural Mountains of Sweden and near Lake Superior in North America.

It is a soft, ductile, malleable metal, reddish brown in color.
Copper was first used by man over 10,000 years ago. The oldest known copper finding is a copper pendant that was discovered in what is now northern Iraq and has been dated about 8700 B.C.
By 3000 B.C., copper was beginning to be alloyed with arsenic and tin. For many centuries, bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, was used almost exclusively for plows, tools, weapons, armor, and decorative objects. The Bronze Age, as the period of time was known, ended in around 1200 BC.
With the invention and commercialization of the telephone system in the 1870’s, copper grew in demand as the growing electric power grid began to consume large quantities of copper wire.
The name copper is derived from the Latin word “cyprium,” after the Island of Cyprus, located off the coast of Greece.
Copper ore is mined from open pits or underground mines. The Mine ore is crushed, ground, and concentrated. The copper is run through furnaces several times, until the non-copper elements are burned off or separated, resulting in “blister,” which is a 99 % pure molten copper. Blister is poured into anode mold, containing an electrolyte of sulfuric acid, copper sulfate and plating reagents. The result is 99.9999 percent pure copper.

The Statue of Liberty relies on copper! The weathering and oxidation of the copper skin of the Statue has amounted to just .005 of an inch in a century. When she was renovated for her centennial, the only copper part of the Statue that needed refurbished was the torch, which was rebuilt with new copper and repainted to match the green of the existing copper. This beautiful color results from contact with the moist atmosphere. Copper was also used in the inner restoration, forming the structural skeleton and the rivets that hold it all together.