| MadSci Network: Chemistry |
The patina is just the copper oxide. As with most reactions, higher temperatures cause the reaction to move faster. I believe there is more than one oxice...probably CuO, Cu3O4 and Cu2O3, but I dont have any reference materials here to check it out. Dan Berger adds: Try looking in a standard reference, like the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, to find the different copper oxides. Look in other reference sources, like an inorganic chemistry text or Greenwood and Earnshaw's "Chemistry of the Elements" to find more about the chemistry.
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