Simple description stating the uses of copper.

To extract copper you first have to find a good place to dig. But from the ground the copper is not pure. It is in the form of copper ore. The ore contains some copper minerals and a lot of waste rock. The mine in the picture gets 6 tonnes of copper from every 1000 tonnes of ore. To change copper ore into metal you have to do a process called reduction. Reduction is when the oxide becomes a metal. The last oxygen atoms are removed. It happens by heating it at a high temperature.

Uses of copper

Copper is used in many things because it has many good qualities. It is a good conductor of heat and electricity, it is malleable so it cannot be bent, it is ductile and copper is resistant to erosion so it will not rust. Also it is very hard to melt copper because it needs a temperature of 1083.4 degrees centigrade. Copper is also cheap unlike silver. The main use for copper is for electrical wiring. It is also used in many other things like cooking utensils and heating pipes.