Atenolol was examined as a copper corrosion inhibitor in 1M nitric acid solution using the mass loss technique and quantum chemical studies, based on density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP level with the base 6-311G (d,p). The inhibitory efficiency of the molecule increases with increasing concentration and temperature. The adsorption of the molecule on the copper surface follows the modified Langmuir model. The thermodynamic quantities of adsorption and activation were determined and discussed. The calculated quantum chemical parameters related to the inhibition efficiency are the energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital E(HOMO), the energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital E(LUMO), the HOMO-LUMO energy gap, the hardness (η), softness (S), dipole moment (μ), electron affinity (A), ionization energy (I), absolute electronegativity (χ),absolute electronegativity (χ), fraction (ΔN) of electrons transferred from Atenolol to copper and electrophilicity index(ω). The local reactivity was analyzed through the condensed Fukui function and condensed softness indices to determine the nucleophilic and electrophilic attack sites. There is good agreement between the experimental and theoretical results.