Question

What happens when a mixture of ${\mathrm{Cu}}_2\mathrm{O}$ and ${\mathrm{Cu}}_2\mathrm{S}$ is heated?

Answer 1

Reaction between Copper oxide and Copper sulfide:

• When a mixture of Copper oxide $\left({\mathrm{Cu}}_2\mathrm{O}\right)$ and Copper sulfide $\left({\mathrm{Cu}}_2\mathrm{S}\right)$ is heated, pure Copper $\left(\mathrm{Cu}\right)$ is formed along with the liberation of Sulfur dioxide $\left({\mathrm{SO}}_2\right)$.
• It is an auto-reduction method for the extraction of Copper metal.
• The chemical equation can be depicted as:

$2{\mathrm{Cu}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)+{\mathrm{Cu}}_2\mathrm{S}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)\stackrel{∆}{\to }6\mathrm{Cu}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)+{\mathrm{SO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)$