Craft + Sew Kid Fun Recipes Home and Garden Tutorials Life

Friday, January 11, 2013

{Kid Fun: Shiny Penny Experiment}

Sometimes (most of the time),  it's the simplest activities that end up being the most entertaining. Shine up dirty copper pennies using two everyday household ingredients: salt and vinegar. 


Gather your supplies. Pennies dated after 1982 are only copper-plated and may corrode if they have been scratched. 


Have your child measure and pour 1/4 cup of vinegar into a glass jar.


Have them measure a tablespoon of salt. 


Add it to the vinegar and mix well.


Add the pennies.



Observe and wait. Give your pennies a few hours or let them sit overnight. Take them out, rinse well and let them dry on a paper towel. Shiny!

Other things to try:
  • Set some of the pennies out to dry without rinsing. Watch for the resulting patina known as 'verdigris'. 
  • Add a quarter to the mixture after removing the pennies.
  • Soak a newer scratched penny in the mixture overnight. If you're lucky you'll have a heavily corroded coin in the morning. 




3 comments:

  1. So cool! And I love your son's hair!

    Btw, I nominated you for a Leibster Award!

    Come check it out...

    www.mommacandy.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cool experiment!

    Hi! Stopping by from MBC. Great blog!
    Have a nice day!

    ReplyDelete