Question

What happens when copper is heated in the air?

Answer 1

Heating copper in air

• Copper is a reactive element.
• It reacts with air and can form oxide.
• When copper $\left(\mathrm{Cu}\right)$ metal is heated and exposed to oxygen $\left({\mathrm{O}}_2\right)$, black copper oxide $\left(\mathrm{CuO}\right)$ is formed.

Balanced chemical reaction

• The balanced reaction is as follows:

$\underset{\left(\mathrm{Copper}\right)}{2\mathrm{Cu}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}+\underset{\left(\mathrm{Oxygen}\right)}{{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}\stackrel{∆}{\to }\underset{\left(\mathrm{Copper}\mathrm{oxide}\right)}{2\mathrm{CuO}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}$