Science Projects on Cleaning a Penny

Get your pennies clean with an inexpensive homemade cleaner
••• Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images

Everyone has seen dirty, tarnished pennies. The oxygen in the air and the copper in the pennies form an oxide that coats the pennies and makes them look dirty. For some quick at-home science experiments, there are a number of different methods you can use to clean your penny collection.

Ketchup

Soak your pennies in ketchup to clean them like new. Well, after you wash the ketchup off, that is. The salt and acetic acid in vinegar do the trick.

Hot Sauce

Hot sauce, like Tabasco or taco sauce, also will remove the oxides off pennies. As in ketchup, salt and vinegar are both in hot sauce.

Coke

Coke and off-brand colas will quickly remove the tarnish. Just don't drink the coke afterward. Coke contains phosphoric acid that cleans the oxides.

Citrus Juice

Try a variety of citrus juices to see which works best or simply let your pennies soak in lemon juice. Citric acid works similarly to the other acids.

Pencil Eraser

Use a common pencil eraser on your pennies to remove the oxides like mistakes on paper. This takes more work than the others, however. The friction does the work.

Vinegar and Salt

Make a solution of vinegar and salt and let the pennies soak. The acid in vinegar, like in citrus, is what really takes the tarnish away.

Related Articles

Penny Tarnish Reverse Projects
Experiments on Cleaning Pennies
Step-by-Step Science Project on Which Juice Cleans...
How to Separate Salt and Pepper
What Happens When You Clean Pennies With Lemon Juice?
Does Lemon Juice Clean Pennies Better Than Vinegar?
What Do Calcium Chloride & Baking Soda Make?
How to Make Crystals with Epsom Salt
Why Does Citric Acid Clean Pennies?
How to Multiply Fractions With Common Denominators
Experiments With Salt and Vinegar
List of Acidic Liquids
Science Project on Nails That Rust
How to Remove Silver Plating
3 Easy, End-of-Summer Science Hacks You Need to Try...
Why Must a Burette & Pipette Be Rinsed With the Appropriate...
Coin Corrosion Science Experiments for Kids
3 Spooky Science Hacks to Try on Halloween
How to Make Crystals Out of Salt
Why Does an Egg's Shell Dissolve When Put in Vinegar?

Dont Go!

We Have More Great Sciencing Articles!