Penny Lab

Penny Lab:

The Penny Lab was very interesting. We used regular copper pennies and put them in hot sodium hydroxide for about 5-10 minutes. This turned the penny silver. The next step was to put the penny above the bunsen burner flame. As the penny grew hotter the silver began to disappear and the old copper color began to reappear. Once we were finished heating the penny we dipped it into water for it to cool. As soon as the penny hit the water the copper color transformed into a golden yellow. The handout asked if we had really created real gold; the answer is no. The only part of the penny that is gold is the outside coating. The inside is still the same penny that we started with. As for the alkemists, they failed at creating real gold out of other metals.