Did you know that you can clean your money? Make your dirty pennies bright and shiny again with a little chemistry!
What You Need:
- ¼ cup vinegar or lemon juice in a glass or plastic bowl
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Old, dirty pennies
- Bowl of water
- Paper towels for drying
What You Do:
1.) Set up your workspace.
2.) Mix the salt and vinegar together in a non-metal bowl. Add your dirty pennies, making sure they are completely covered by the solution.
3.) Let the pennies sit for 20-30 minutes, or longer if your pennies are super dirty.
4.) Remove the pennies from the vinegar solution and rinse them in a bowl of water. Take them out of the water and dry them with a paper towel.
The Science:
As pennies are exposed to the environment, they become coated with a layer of copper oxide, making them look old and tarnished. Copper oxide dissolves in a mixture of weak acid and table salt. Vinegar and lemon juice are both acids.