What is the main purpose of white copper? How can it be distinguished from silver?

We use a lot of metals in our lives, and there are metals in various products. White copper is a copper-based alloy with nickel as the main added element. It is silver-white and has metallic luster, so it is named cupronickel. Copper and nickel can be infinitely dissolved in each other, thus forming a continuous solid solution, that is, regardless of the ratio of each other, it is always an α-single-phase alloy. When nickel is melted into red copper and the content exceeds 16%, the color of the resulting alloy becomes as white as silver. The higher the nickel content, the whiter the color. The nickel content in cupronickel is generally 25%.

1. The main use of cupronickel
Among copper alloys, cupronickel is widely used in shipbuilding, petroleum, chemical industry, construction, electric power, precision instrumentation, medical equipment, musical instrument production and other sectors as corrosion-resistant structural parts due to its excellent corrosion resistance and easy molding, processing and welding. . Some cupronickel also has special electrical properties, which can be used to make resistive elements, thermocouple materials and compensation wires. Non-industrial cupronickel is mainly used to make decorative handicrafts.
Second, distinguish between white copper and silver
Because white copper jewelry is similar to sterling silver jewelry in terms of color and workmanship. Some unscrupulous merchants take advantage of consumers’ lack of understanding of silver jewelry and sell cupronickel jewelry as sterling silver jewelry, so as to make huge profits from it. So, how to distinguish sterling silver jewelry or white copper jewelry?
It is understood that the general sterling silver jewelry will be marked with the words S925, S990, XX pure silver, etc., while the cupronickel jewelry does not have such a mark or the mark is very unclear; the surface of the silver can be marked with a needle; and the copper texture is tough and does not It is easy to scratch scars; the color of silver is slightly yellowish silver-white, which is because silver is easy to oxidize, and it appears dark yellow after oxidation, while the color of white copper is pure white, and green spots will appear after a period of time.
In addition, if a drop of concentrated hydrochloric acid is dropped on the inside of silver jewelry, a white moss-like precipitate of silver chloride will be formed immediately, which is not the case with cupronickel.
This article introduces in detail the main uses of cupronickel and the identification method of cupronickel and silver. Cupronickel is used in shipbuilding, petroleum, chemical industry, construction, electric power, precision instruments, medical equipment, musical instrument production and other departments as corrosion-resistant structural parts. White copper is not easy to be scratched, and the color is pure white, which is very different from silver.