Balboa Park - Copper

I learned a lot from the balboa park trip, more than I was expecting. I read every single thing possible in the copper exhibit, because it was reall interesting. The part I enjoyed reading about the most was how they perserves the copper and made it more appealing to the eye. Here are some things I learned:

The expedition was lead by Professor Levy in 1997. He took a group of college students to Jordan to collect copper. They traveled on the backs of Donkeys and with only the nessesities. They traveled nearly 100 miles just to reach their destination. Most of the copper was found in Faynan (southern Jordan), Timma, and Sinai (both in southern Isreal). The copper they found was completely homogeneous which means pure, hasnt been touched by man. The prosess in which they preserved the copper goes as follows:
1. The copper is crushes using a stone tool in a stone bowl.
2. The crushed copper was then smelted. Smelting is when the copper is put into a small fire and blown on with hollowed out bamboo pipes. The copper has to reach a temperature of 1083 degrees Celcius when it becomes liquid.

This prosess takes 30-45 minutes. Then the copper is left to dry.

In its natural state, copper is a soft, pinkish red, metalic element. When exposed to oxygen though, a thin, blueish green layer of copper sulfate is formed.