Table of Contents
- 1 What happens when you put lemon juice on a penny?
- 2 What happens when you put a penny in orange juice?
- 3 Does lemon juice or vinegar clean pennies better?
- 4 What liquid will react with a penny the most?
- 5 Will lemon juice or Coke clean a penny better?
- 6 Why do pennies turn green?
- 7 Why does Coke clean a penny?
- 8 What cleans a penny best experiment?
What happens when you put lemon juice on a penny?
Vinegar and lemon juice are acidic and will remove the copper oxide, leaving the pennies shiny.
What happens when you put a penny in orange juice?
Copper oxide dissolves in a mixture of weak acid and table salt-and vinegar is an acid. You could also clean your pennies with salt and lemon juice or orange juice, because those juices are acids, too.
How do you oxidize a penny fast?
Because this is an oxidation experiment, you need a key ingredient-oxygen! Spread out your pennies on a paper towel liberally sprinkled with salt and just dampened with vinegar and your pennies will oxidize much faster.
Does lemon juice or vinegar clean pennies better?
Ultimately, lemon juice will clean pennies better than vinegar, though both liquids are viable cleaning options for copper. This means that lemon juice is a slightly stronger acid than vinegar. The stronger the acid, the better it will clean copper pennies.
What liquid will react with a penny the most?
Which Liquids Will Tarnish a Penny Faster?
- Potassium Sulfide. Potassium sulfide dissolved in water creates a solution that puts tarnish on a penny.
- Bleach. Bleach will also tarnish pennies.
- Vinegar. Acid speeds up the oxidation process taking place on copper.
- Liver of Sulphur.
Which juice cleans pennies best?
Those tart little lemons work to remove copper oxide because they contain citric acid. Since lemon juice has the highest concentration of citric acid of any fruit, it works the best. Other juices that rank highly include lime, grapefruit, and orange juice.
Will lemon juice or Coke clean a penny better?
Coke and off-brand colas will quickly remove the tarnish. Just don’t drink the coke afterward. Coke contains phosphoric acid that cleans the oxides. Try a variety of citrus juices to see which works best or simply let your pennies soak in lemon juice.
Why do pennies turn green?
A penny is made of copper. The vinegar on the paper towel helps the copper in the penny easily react with the oxygen in the air to form a blue-green colored compound called malachite.
Why do pennies turn green experiment?
When copper is exposed to oxygen, it forms molecules called copper oxide that make pennies look dirty. Pouring vinegar over the pennies helps break up this copper oxide and expose the pure copper on the penny. As the penny dries and is exposed to the air, a chemical reaction occurs and the penny turns green!
Why does Coke clean a penny?
That’s because cola has acid in it – phosphoric acid, to be precise. When the copper oxide (the pennies) and the phosphoric acid (the cola) get together in the bath, the acid reacts with the copper oxide on the pennies and dissolves it.
What cleans a penny best experiment?
Create a solution of vinegar and salt using one teaspoon of salt and 1/4 of a cup of vinegar. Mix until the salt is dissolved (it helps if the vinegar is a little warm). Add the pennies. Wait about 5 minutes, then remove the pennies from the solution.