The pennies will be cleaner and brighter than before. Afterwards, put one old coin in each cup. The pennies have become tarnished as the copper coating reacts with oxygen in the air and forms a copper oxygen compound, which makes the pennies appear brown. And be sure to share these additional fun learning activities with your kids! While the coins are air drying in the second stage, you can talk your kids through their findings of the first stage together! When you are done with this fun experiment, check outMaking Pennies Green. TOTAL PAGES AVAILABLE FOR, 10-IN-1 BUNDLE (Set 1 of 5) - Grades 4,5,6, What is in this '10-IN-1 BUNDLE'? As in ketchup, salt and vinegar . Step 1 Fill a glass cup with vinegar and pour it in a non-metallic bowl. All you need is a couple of old copper coins, some different liquids and a few other tools. Thats great to know Aayeshi. TEN Quick and Easy Science Experiments for Kids! Penny Cleaning Science Project | LoveToKnow Mix one tablespoon of salt with half a cup of vinegar in a small container and stir until the salt dissolves. Again, make sure the penny is completely covered by Ketchup. MAKE IT AN EXPERIMENT. 'Elephant's Toothpaste, - Lesson 4 of 50 - Grades 4,5,6 Reproduction of material from this website without written permission is strictly prohibited. Teaching kids about science doesn't have to be intimidating. Its not just dependent on how old the pennies are. Mix until the salt is dissolved (it helps if the vinegar is a little warm). Try leaving the pennies in the solutions for different lengths of time. It can be done relatively quickly and with multiple ages. Our goal is to make science relevant and fun for everyone. If you enjoyed this cleaning pennies experiment, you'll love: Wow! 2023 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. The coins that were submerged in those cups should come out nice and shiny, while the rest are still a little dull and dirty. it does not say the date and author on the website! Since most pennies made after 1982 are made out of zinc with a thin copper coating, you used real copper pennies to get the true effect. Place each of the pennies in the 1 minute column into their corresponding cup. All you need for this science experiment are vinegar, salt, a glass jar, and dirty pennies.1. This is an instruction and recording sheet for our, (as outlined) is to determine if soapy water or ketchup will, more efficiently. Note: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. Compare the penny from the ketchup to the control penny. How to Quickly Clean Velcro & Make It Sticky Again, Say so long to fuzzy, fluffy, linty velcro and hello to a satisfying clean velcro strip, Easy Ways to Clean Your Garage Floors & Remove Grime. Cover the pennies with taco sauce, spreading the sauce over the pennies until they are completely covered. So we did a little experiment to see what would actually happen. Cleaning Pennies Experiment - Mess for Less Im not talking about the literal dirt that ends up collecting on them Im talking about the residue that is still present even if you rinse your pennies off with water. Check the ingredient list for your Ketchup and Tabasco sauce some of the labels might list vinegar or citric acid, while others might say tomato puree. They will need one tarnished, dirty-looking penny for every solution chosen plus one extra as a control (meaning that nothing will be done to this final penny). TPT empowers educators to teach at their best. Density Experiment With Water Watch The Floating Egg! Put a dollop of ketchup on a plate. All you need are, , water, dish soap, salt, and vinegar. Next, pour one liquid into each cup. Which is the least clean? If you line up your pennies in order from the dirtiest to the cleanest, the order should go something like this: Water, Soda/Fruit Juice, Vinegar, Ketchup, and Vinegar and salt mixture. Now comes the hardest part of the experiment - the waiting. Once all the pennies are in the correct cup, use the remaining time to observe the pennies, and the contents of the cup. Pop another coin in both the ketchup and vinegar and salt mixture. The salt and acetic acid in vinegar do the trick. This looks like a great activity to do with my kiddos! Its acid! What is the optimal time to leave the pennies in the cleaning solution? Vinegar (or Lemon Juice) and Salt This method is the best way to clean your pennies, and it will produce a very bright orangey-copper color on your pennies. This means you will only have two cups to work with. This takes more work than the others, however. All with pocket change actually. They look brown or black, and sometimes theyre so dirty looking that you cant even tell whether theyre pennies! In the third cup, put 1/2 cup vinegar and 2 teaspoons of salt. After 10 minutes, use your tweezers to take the coins out of each cup. Includes a 2-page student workshe, your class, whether on Presidents Day or another time of the year! Why did the catsup clean the coin as well as the vinegar + salt solution? Therefore, each cleaning method you tested contained acid and salt, but the Ketchup and Tabasco sauce may have had a slightly weaker acid. The kids had a lot of fun and the sorting sheet helped keep the organized and on track. As we have seen experimentally, acid alone does not clean as well as acid and salt. We had a blast, a physical example of chemical weathering, by looking at how the soda coke (or a generic version), . What do your results tell you about the special properties of copper pennies? Make sure your child doesn't lick the pennies or try to eat any because ketchup is tasty. Place your 'Control, 1 minutes' penny into the 'Control 1' cup. Science Experiment: How to Clean Pennies - Teach Beside Me All rights reserved. Remove the pennies and rinse them with water. 2 teaspoons salt. Rank your solutions from which cleaned the penny the best, to which cleaned it the worst. The statue ismade of copper and it has turned bluish-green because of this copper-oxygen-chlorine reaction. Place each of the pennies in the 1 minute column into their corresponding cup. Lab, Students of all ages have fun doing this easy, ! And hydrochloric acid is so much more acidic than vinegar alone. Mix until the salt is dissolved (it helps if the vinegar is a little warm). The oxygen in the air and the copper in the pennies form an oxide that coats the pennies and makes them look dirty. Plus, theyll learn some cool facts about metals, the pH scale, and the Statue of Liberty. You can only guess how highly acidic this ketchup must be! They are going to love it! Now closely look at each coin. Thanks a lot Meriley. Gather up a few dirty pennies. And don't worry, I give the science behind it all! The salt and acetic acid in vinegar do the trick. Thats Chemistry in action for you! Im going to use this for my science project at school but im going to do it for more then 10 minutes. This is a weak acid, which is good since we ingest it. Cleaning Penny Experiment Teaching Resources | Teachers Pay Teachers Record this number on your data table under trial 1. Then, you should have more acidic solutions like ketchup and the salt and vinegar mixture. Once all your liquids have been poured into their own cup, you can have your kids drop one old coin in each liquid and leave them submerged for 10 mins. Today is the day you take out your old coins and declare this day, coin cleaning day. You dont need any fancy gadgets or science kits to clean these coins, all you need are a few household ingredients and you will have shiny new coins in less than an hour. Put 1 tablespoon Tabasco into each Tabasco cup. Wipe the coins dry with their paper towels and compare them. So 1st cup will have catsup, 2nd will have coke, and so on. 'Dry Ice Bubble, ' link: I used this experiment for my science class and my teacher was super impressed. Penny Cleaning Experiment - Instructables Look how much cleaner it is. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagramto see new experiments! Stir until the salt dissolves. So we proceeded to read the other ingredients and guess what we found? Analysis and Graph - Cleaning Pennies This one is exciting, low prep, and engaging. Using the tape and marker, label each dish or cup with the name of the solution that will go into it. Repeat the experiment with the same pennies in a new solution of vinegar and salt and see if you can make them even brighter! I'm a mom of three and STEM enthusiast. Here are the scientific method steps and some sample questions to help you work through it. ), 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed Lemon Juice, 2 tablespoons Tabasco Sauce (or other hot sauce), 11 plastic cups (small Tupperware containers or bowls will work as well). Pre-made digital activities. Medioimages/Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images. Science - Lesson 2 of 50 - Grades 4,5,6 Kids are naturally curious, and as their parent or guardian, you will want to encourage that as they grow older. Recently, we did thisCleaning Pennies Experimentand the results were surprising to my kids. Encourage this and get them to write down their supposed answers. Through the data and . This is a pretty safe experiment. And see whats the sciencebehind this phenomena. This product is designed to teach people how to clean old, tarnished pennies using simple household items such as vinegar and salt. Students will create a booklet or for a quicker project, just print the worksheet. This will allow you to make a better judgment of how well each method cleaned, by looking at the pennies before and after their treatment. I preceded the, a presentation from the U.S. Mint site on how coins are made. My goal is to encourage moms, find practical parenting solutions, and help moms with the unique challenges twins bring! If youre doing this with kids, this is a good time to ask them questions about the experiment. Conclusions - Cleaning Pennies Remember, you will be working with only the vinegar salt mixture and the catsup. You simply add salt to vinegar and you end up making an even more acidic concoction? Chemistry Experiments With Pennies - ThoughtCo (Or have a fun science fair project?) Two student printables are included for recording and responding to the lesson. At the end students write which solution, Lab Activity" is an engaging and interactive lab, designed for high school and college biology classes. All you need are pennies, water, dish soap, salt, and vinegar. Lesson contains First, prepare all your cups and line them up. The salt in the ketchup adds dissolved chloride ions that bond with the copper to form copper chloride, which allows the acid to break up even more copper oxide. My kids had fun doing this, raiding their piggy banks to find some dirty pennies. Put a dollop of ketchup on a plate. . 'Dry Ice Bubble, - Lesson 3 of 50 - Grades 4,5,6 Chemical reactions, acidity, copper oxidation. In the first cup, put plain water. 1. While still scrubbing with the toothbrush, rinse the penny with room temperature water. A coin collector prides himself on gathering pennies, but old tarnished pennies are an eyesore to anyone's collection. Teacher Notes: Regarding, : 1 colour page And because this mixture is way up high in the acidic scale, it cleaned the coin so much better and quicker than just vinegar. And it even had added acetic acid! If you dont have a camera, look closely at the color of each penny. PRINT AND GO STEM BUNDLE. Water is the worst because it is a neutral liquid, meaning that it sits smack in the middle of the pH scale. Gently wipe off any excess solution with a paper towel. What will happen when the liquid cleans the coin? Her articles appear on the Sixth Wall and other websites. Its a great way to get their young minds critically thinking, and also challenges them to solve problems using logic. Im Colleen, gifted specialist, educational consultant,author,speaker, andhomeschool momof four gifted/twice-exceptional kids. Get rid of dirt, oil, rust, and debris with a regular garage floor cleaning and maintenance routine. 2. Carefully remove each penny from its solution. Next, drop in a dirty penny and stir. Take the penny from the Ketchup,1 minutes square of your table, and place it in the Ketchup 1 cup. Citrus JuiceTry a variety of citrus juices to see which works best or simply let your pennies soak in lemon juice. Update Includes Google Slides version for distance learning, Rated 4.77 out of 5, based on 172 reviews, " is a product that provides a fun and educational activity for children and adults alike. Keep trying, keep asking why, and keep learning. I'm so happy you're here!! About half way filled is fine. But the vinegar by itself didnt clean the coin as well as the vinegar + salt solution! The soda cleans the pennies because it contains phosphoric acid. This is why bright shiny pennies dull with age. All pennies start out the same color beautiful and bright copper. Gently swirl the cup so that the penny is completely covered with Ketchup. Most of these aren't substances that are typically used to clean, which is part of makes guessing how they will affect the pennies more fun. In this activity, were going to test a few different methods for cleaning pennies, and determine which gets our pennies the cleanest. So what just happened here? Cleaning pennies with ketchup: easy and fun STEM for kids. Make this your own and let your kids explore. 'Fire Water Balloon, ' link: And also, dont forget to Subscribe to our channel for more fun kids activities. The liquids didnt clean the coins in 10 minutes so I think it needed to be for longer! What do you see? Ask them questions, have them tell you what they see happening. Smear a small amount of toothpaste onto a dirty penny. A hypothesis is a prediction of what is going to happen in an experiment based on knowledge that the experimenter already has. If you line up your pennies in order from the dirtiest to the cleanest, the order should go something like this: Water, Soda/Fruit Juice, Vinegar, Ketchup, and Vinegar and salt mixture. Line these cups up in a row. The chlorine ions bond with the copper in solution forming some sort of copper chloride, allowing the acid to break more of the copper oxide free from the penny. Place a paper clip in each cup of vinegar and salt solution. The "Penny Cleaning Experiment" is a product that provides a fun and educational activity for children and adults alike. Reviewed & Fact Checked byRebecca Carlock. Start with the cups labeled 1. This activity helps students to see and experience the properties of water- including Adhesion, Cohesion, and Surface Tension. i thought that this was very helpful all five of my kids did this and they got an A so yea, gunna use this for my science project at school:D, well i think this experiment was welled organized but it could have showed more steps in the process of how they started from beginning to end also it could have said how long did it sit in the liquid, did they whip it off or not, showed what color was the coin at first etc, This is a great experiment im in 7th grade my science teacher was shocked. Hi, I'm Kim! You are going to challenge your children to clean pennies with various kitchen condiments. The step-by-step instructions included in this digital product are easy to follow and are accompanied by colorful illustrations that make the process even more engaging. Thanks for sharing! Wet a toothbrush and begin scrubbing the penny. Answers to, Questions: 1 colour page Science - Lesson 5 of 50 - Grades 4,5,6 Here is a video of when we did the first stage of this experiment which we put up on our GallyKids Youtube Channel. Label this column "Cleaning Method." The next column, label "1 Minute." And label the third column "5 Minutes." Make each cell (square) of the table large enough to place your penny in it after. Not only will you be improving them as an individual, you will also be strengthening the bond you share together. To get your kids involved, ask them a few questions about pennies and cleaning them. Use your paper towels to gently dry off each penny, then place it in the corresponding square of your table. In time, however, they get darker, brownish and dull. DOCX Fairfield Area School District / District Home Which penny is the cleanest, compared to its before picture? . From Dull to Dazzling: Using Pennies to Test How pH - Science Buddies Wait about 5 minutes, then remove the pennies from the solution. The vinegar cleans the penny due to the acid in the vinegar. This easy and fun science experiment teaches kids about chemical reactions in a way that seems like magic! For this experiment, you will need dirty pennies, paper towels, 1/4 cup of white vinegar, a tsp. But sometimes those pennies you see on the ground look anything but lucky. I LOVE teaching! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. There is a second stage to this experiment that you can also try out while you are talking to your kids about their results from the first stage. These boxes are presented in partnership with Popular Mechanics so you know you'll be getting some great stuff each month. Fill the eyedropper with water from the water beaker and carefully count the number of drops that fit on the penny until the water spills over the edge. Dry the pennies with a paper towel. chemistry, kitchen science experiments, coin experiments. Now check out your pennies. Extra: Can you think of other safe household acids you could test? For any other use, please contact Science Buddies. Thanks for the rare idea to wash penny. It isn't just dirt, it is the result of the copper in the pennies interacting with oxygen in the atmosphere. The acid in ketchup is acetic acid, commonly known as vinegar. Take a few minutes to examine your chosen solutions. The reason for this is that copper has quite the relationship with Oxygenthat isthey react to each other. If you are doing this with older children who can write you can have them write out a grid for penny comparison. Sometimes, all you need is some glue, some baking soda or a few old pennies. The acid in vinegar, like in citrus, is what really takes the tarnish away. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. Was 1 minute or 5 minutes more effective in cleaning the pennies overall? What is changing? Cleaning Pennies Science Experiment for Kids - Raising Lifelong Learners This will help them develop into highly skilled individuals and prepare them for more difficult situations they are sure to encounter later on in life. The following titles name the 20, /activities.Shake It! Leave the control cups empty. Take the dirty copper pennies (the ones from the bottom of your purse are best) and have your child place one into each cup. Go back to the table you drew. So, the liquids that have worked best in your experiment are the ones that are more acidic. While copper is a beautiful metal, it is also reactive. What happens? Hi, my name is Elena Jones, and my full-time job is a teacher. Well, heres something even more fascinating. What do your results tell you about the special properties of copper pennies? Now, when copper reacts to oxygen, it turns dark brown to make copper oxide. Check the coins, then come back again in another 30 minutes and see what has happened to the coins. A variety of products can be used to keep your pennies looking shiny and new. Place the penny (tails side up) on a flat surface. How does time affect the cleanliness of the pennies? Its that dull dark color that coats old coins. To begin with, you'll want to find a handful of dirty pennies. KetchupSoak your pennies in ketchup to clean them like new. Here is the science of cleaning pennies with ketchup. After cups are put away, remove goggles. Just put the coins on the tea towel and leave it to air dry. Salt and vinegar mixed together creates a chemical reaction to form hydrochloric acid, which is far more acidic than vinegar alone. You dont have to do the 2nd one, but its also a good scientific experiment and youll even find out why the Statue of Liberty is the color that it is. From Dull to Dazzling: Using Pennies to Test How pH Affects Copper Corrosion, Rustin Out: How Acids Affect the Rate of Corrosion, ! Conclusions - Cleaning Pennies Cleaning Pennies Home The project that I made, consisted in cleaning up old and dirty pennies. Copper oxide is what causes pennies to become dull. We are actually performing a chemical reaction that breaks down the copper oxide. . So, the acetic acid in vinegar dissolves the copper oxide and cleans it. Do not add anything to the cup. All rights reserved. Materials: Dirty pennies Glass Vinegar Salt Measuring spoons Paper towels Instructions: Fill the glass about halfway full with vinegar. Observe paper clips next day.