Copper

Copper — page 1
Introduction Has anyone ever offered you a penny for your thoughts This small coin is made mostly of copper a metal that people have used since our early ancestors found shiny pieces of it among riverbed stones and sometimes in the ashes of their fires When humans began chipping rocks into tools and arrowheads they also used pieces of copper for tools Copper was softer than many rocks but still useful Metallurgy is the study of metals and their chemistry It is also the sci(cid:173) ence that deals with extracting metals from their ores of purifying or alloying mixing metals and of creating useful objects from metals Metallurgy probably began with the early use of copper Copper melts at a lower temperature than iron so copper was probably the first metal our ancestors learned to smelt out of ore in simple kilns and bonfires Copper ores are often colored making them easier to recognize than ores of most other metals People eventually learned that molten copper also combines with other metals such as zinc tin or nickel to make harder alloys which can be used for making weapons and farming and construction tools Copper is also present in plants and makes up a tiny but important part of our food and our bodies Copper silver and gold are called the coinage metals because they are used for making coins Coins often had an image of a god or ruler stamped onto one side Modern coins from Canada and Great Britain