Intro:
You have probably heard of the expression, 100 pennies make a dollar. But who would want a dull penny? During this experiment, I explored how to use simple household items to turn twenty dull pennies into shiny pennies again. In this experiment I mixed vinegar and salt and used it to cleanse dull pennies. Then I rinsed half of them and didn't rinse the other half and let them dry. Observing these pennies taught me more about oxidation and how acids can dissolve the rust on pennies.
Looking Back:
My experiment turned out pretty good. I was able to clean lots of the dull pennies I had. I put 20 dull pennies in a salt and vinegar mixture. Then I took half of them out and washed them, and took the other half straight out of the mixture without washing them. After an hour I observed that the pennies I washed were shiny while the ones I didn't wash turned green.
Looking Beyond:
The pennies were dull because overtime the copper atoms combined with the oxygen atoms in the air creating copper oxide on the penny's surface. When you put the dull pennies in the salt and vinegar, the copper oxide dissolves. Also, when you put the screws in the mixture afterwards the copper coating from the pennies coats the screws making a metallic layer. The screws bubble while in the mixture because in the salt and vinegar, there's lots of hydrogen atoms missing an electron floating around called hydrogen ions. Some of the ions join together at the screw's surface and make hydrogen gas which is what the bubbles are made of. After the pennies that weren't rinsed dry, they turn greenish blue. This is because when the salt and vinegar dissolve the copper oxide layer, the copper atoms join oxygen from the air and the salt's chlorine to make a blue-green compound known as malachite.
Looking Inward:
I got pretty good results from this experiment. This is because I followed the steps carefully and made sure to use the right ingredients because the first time, I tried to complete the experiment with Balsamic vinegar but it wasn't as effective so I went and bought clear vinegar and the results were better. I believe I performed well in this activity.
Looking Forward:
I would probably have just bought clear vinegar in the beginning instead of using whatever I had in the house but other than that I wouldn't change anything. I don't believe there's a way to continue this experiment, nor would I want to continue it. I'd rather move on to a new experiment.
Take Away:
This experiment taught me more about how pennies rust and how to turn them back to normal again. It also taught me to kind of slow down and look at each step carefully before I rush and do things because I made lots of mistakes and had to keep re-doing the experiment many times until I finally did it correctly and got desirable results.
You have probably heard of the expression, 100 pennies make a dollar. But who would want a dull penny? During this experiment, I explored how to use simple household items to turn twenty dull pennies into shiny pennies again. In this experiment I mixed vinegar and salt and used it to cleanse dull pennies. Then I rinsed half of them and didn't rinse the other half and let them dry. Observing these pennies taught me more about oxidation and how acids can dissolve the rust on pennies.
Looking Back:
My experiment turned out pretty good. I was able to clean lots of the dull pennies I had. I put 20 dull pennies in a salt and vinegar mixture. Then I took half of them out and washed them, and took the other half straight out of the mixture without washing them. After an hour I observed that the pennies I washed were shiny while the ones I didn't wash turned green.
Looking Beyond:
The pennies were dull because overtime the copper atoms combined with the oxygen atoms in the air creating copper oxide on the penny's surface. When you put the dull pennies in the salt and vinegar, the copper oxide dissolves. Also, when you put the screws in the mixture afterwards the copper coating from the pennies coats the screws making a metallic layer. The screws bubble while in the mixture because in the salt and vinegar, there's lots of hydrogen atoms missing an electron floating around called hydrogen ions. Some of the ions join together at the screw's surface and make hydrogen gas which is what the bubbles are made of. After the pennies that weren't rinsed dry, they turn greenish blue. This is because when the salt and vinegar dissolve the copper oxide layer, the copper atoms join oxygen from the air and the salt's chlorine to make a blue-green compound known as malachite.
Looking Inward:
I got pretty good results from this experiment. This is because I followed the steps carefully and made sure to use the right ingredients because the first time, I tried to complete the experiment with Balsamic vinegar but it wasn't as effective so I went and bought clear vinegar and the results were better. I believe I performed well in this activity.
Looking Forward:
I would probably have just bought clear vinegar in the beginning instead of using whatever I had in the house but other than that I wouldn't change anything. I don't believe there's a way to continue this experiment, nor would I want to continue it. I'd rather move on to a new experiment.
Take Away:
This experiment taught me more about how pennies rust and how to turn them back to normal again. It also taught me to kind of slow down and look at each step carefully before I rush and do things because I made lots of mistakes and had to keep re-doing the experiment many times until I finally did it correctly and got desirable results.