Obtaining copper metal from the mineral malachite-the old-fashioned way. Yee, Eddleton, and Johnson describe a lab experiment, "Copper Metal from Malachite circa 4000 B.C.E.", in which students roast malachite, reduce the intermediate with carbon, and then characterize the copper product. The beads in the foreground show the three stages of this reaction (left to right) from the green malachite starting material [Cu2CO3(OH)2], to the black copper(II) oxide intermediate, to the final copper metal product.
The malachite sample shown in the background is part of the collection of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Geology Museum; museum staff Brooke Swanson and Richard Slaughter provided useful information and access to malachite specimens. Jerry J. Jacobsen photographed the malachite cross-section and the authors provided the beads' photograph.
The cover was designed by Betsy True.
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