The Periodic Table of Scarcity and Abundance
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Copper

Element 29 · Transition metal

Specimen

Atomic number
29
Atomic mass
63.55
State at room temperature
Solid
Melting point
1,085 °C
Boiling point
2,562 °C
Density
8.933 g/cm³
Discovered
Ancient

Physical data from PubChem.1

Can I eat it?

In food and water
Your body needs it. Copper is an essential nutrient. In Europe, grains are the main source. In 2023, EFSA set an acceptable daily intake of 0.07 mg per kg of body weight. 23

See every element.

The atom

Cu
ShellElectrons
1 (K) 2
2 (L) 8
3 (M) 18
4 (N) outermost 1
Total29

Configuration [Ar] 3d¹⁰ 4s¹

3d ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓
4s ↑
A shell diagram: each ring is an electron shell and each dot is one electron. The nucleus holds 29 protons. The outermost shell is shown in red. Electrons do not travel on rings: they fill orbitals, regions where an electron is likely to be found. The boxes are those orbitals for the electrons outside the Ar core, with one arrow per electron.

Related elements

Group 11
Ag Silver Au Gold Rg Roentgenium

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Sources

  1. 1

    National Center for Biotechnology Information (PubChem), 2026. Periodic Table of Elements .

    Atomic mass, electron configuration, melting and boiling points, density and discovery year for all 118 elements.

  2. 2

    European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), 2017. Dietary Reference Values for nutrients. Summary report (amended 2019) .

    Summaries of the EFSA NDA Panel opinions on each vitamin and mineral, section 4 (minerals) and section 5 (cobalamin).

    • Copper is an essential micronutrient required for electron transfer processes
    • The main food group contributing to the copper intake of all population groups except infants is grains and grain-based products.
  3. 3

    European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), 2025. Overview on Tolerable Upper Intake Levels as derived by the SCF and the EFSA NDA Panel (version 11) , Table 1 footnotes.

    • In 2023, the EFSA Scientific Committee established an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of 0.07 mg/kg body weight copper