The metal element copper must be familiar to everyone, and the more common one is the copper wire in the wire. However, there are many types of copper, such as: red copper, bronze, brass, cupronickel, etc. Although the above-mentioned elements belong to the same kind of elements, there are still differences between each. Today, I would like to share with you some tips for distinguishing red copper from brass.

1. What is red copper?

Red copper, also known as red copper, is a simple substance of copper, named for its purple-red surface color. At the same time, it is also called red copper because it also has a rose red color and a purple color after an oxide film is formed on the surface. It is copper containing a certain amount of oxygen, so it is also called oxygen-containing copper. Red copper is an industrial pure copper with a melting point of 1083°C and a relative density of 8.9, which is 5 times that of metallic magnesium. It has no allotropic transformation. The mass of the same volume is about 15% heavier than ordinary steel, and it is widely used in the manufacture of cables, wires, electric brushes, electric spark copper and other products that require good conductivity.

2. What is brass?

Brass is an alloy composed of copper and zinc. Brass composed of copper and zinc is called ordinary brass; if it is a variety of alloys composed of more than two elements, it is called special brass, such as manganese, nickel, lead, tin, iron, and silicon. Copper alloy. It has the advantages of high hardness, high strength, and strong chemical resistance. Brass is generally used to make valves, water pipes, connecting pipes for internal and external air conditioners, and radiators.

3. How to distinguish red copper and brass?

(1) Sampling brass and copper, and adding hydrochloric acid at the same time, the one that will bubble is brass, and the copper almost does not bubble;

(2) The hardness of the alloy is greater than that of a single-component metal, so the hardness of brass is greater than that of copper;

(3) The melting point of the alloy is lower than that of the single-component metal, which means that the melting point of red copper is higher than that of brass.

The above are the tips on how to distinguish between brass and red copper. I hope that after reading it, you should be able to distinguish these two types of copper easily. In fact, no matter which type of copper is, they have their own advantages and disadvantages, and they are also widely used in their respective fields.