Copper is the primary ingredient in the alloy brass.
Brass is a copper-zinc alloy, with the proportions of the two metals adjusted to produce different colors, strengths, and working properties. Some brasses also contain small amounts of lead, tin, aluminium, iron, or manganese.
Copper gives brass its main reddish-gold base, while zinc generally makes the alloy harder and can improve its machinability. Brass is used in musical instruments, plumbing fittings, screws, locks, ammunition casings, and decorative hardware.
Brass is often confused with bronze because both are copper-based alloys. Traditional bronze is primarily copper and tin, whereas traditional brass is primarily copper and zinc. The boundary can be less simple for historical artifacts because ancient alloys often contained impurities and were made from mixed ores. Still, copper is the defining base metal in both families.