Group 12 element people in the 17th century. German chemist Andreas Marggraf is usually given credit for discovering pure metallic zinc in a 1746 experiment by heating a mixture of calamine and charcoal in a closed vessel without copper to obtain a metal. Experiments on frogs by the Italian doctor Luigi Galvani in 1780 with brass paved the way for the discovery of electrical batteries, galvanization and cathodic protection. In 1880, Galvani's friend, Alessandro Volta, invented the Voltaic pile. The biological importance of zinc was not discovered until 1940 when carbonic anhydrase, an enzyme that scrubs carbon dioxide from blood, was shown to
Group 11 element silver-plated copper wiring are found in some special applications. Copper occurs in its native form in Chile, China, Mexico, Russia and the USA. Various natural ores of copper are: copper pyrites (CuFeS), cuprite or ruby copper (CuO), copper glance (CuS), malachite, (Cu(OH)CuCO), and azurite (Cu(OH)2CuCO). Copper pyrite is the principal ore, and yields nearly 76% of the world production of copper. Silver is found in native form, as an alloy with gold (electrum), and in ores containing sulfur, arsenic, antimony or chlorine. Ores include argentite (AgS), chlorargyrite (AgCl) which includes horn silver, and pyrargyrite (AgSbS). Silver is extracted using the