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2025 Aluminum vs. C81500 Copper

2025 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while C81500 copper belongs to the copper alloys. There are 29 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.

For each property being compared, the top bar is 2025 aluminum and the bottom bar is C81500 copper.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 110
110
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 72
120
Elongation at Break, % 15
17
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.34
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
44
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 400
350
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 260
280

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
210
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
200
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1090
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 520
1080
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 870
390
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 150
320
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 40
82
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 120
83

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 10
31
Density, g/cm3 3.0
8.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 7.9
2.6
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
41
Embodied Water, L/kg 1130
310

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 55
56
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 450
330
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
7.3
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 46
18
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 37
11
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 40
12
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 58
91
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 18
12

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 90.9 to 95.2
0 to 0.1
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
0.4 to 1.5
Copper (Cu), % 3.9 to 5.0
97.4 to 99.6
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 1.0
0 to 0.1
Lead (Pb), % 0
0 to 0.020
Magnesium (Mg), % 0 to 0.050
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.4 to 1.2
0
Silicon (Si), % 0.5 to 1.2
0 to 0.15
Tin (Sn), % 0
0 to 0.1
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0 to 0.1
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.5