Penny Lab

Yesterday, we began our first chemistry experiment. Actually, it was a quick experiment and we were finished with it before class ended! We were a very cooperative group-me, Valerie, Nayeon, Beverly, and Sherry. In the experiment, we first wore SAFETY GOGGLES to protect our eyes, and were very careful with the sodium hydroxide, which burns skin, eyes, and clothing. Firstly, we placed zinc filling in a beaker and added sodium hydroxide to it. Then, we placed this beaker on a hot plate, where the penny was to be placed. Valerie meticulously placed all of our pennies with the tongs. Of course, the penny became hot, and coated with zinc. After, we placed the penny in cold water to rinse the penny. As a result, the penny was set back to room temperature, and then we lighted the Bunsen burner. The tongs then came along, to place the silvered penny into the flame. When the silvered penny finally changed color, it turned a yellowish gold! My favorite color is yellow, but unfortunately this penny was not a pretty yellow...

From this fun experiment, I learned many things. I learned how the penny turned silver, and also how the penny turned gold. The penny turned silver because when the penny was boiled in sodium hydroxide, the color of the penny turned silver. The penny was then held in the flame, turning it golden. This is because the zinc dissolves in sodium hydroxide, making the metallic zinc of the copper reduce. When zinc and copper are heated in a flame, it forms brass.