Kids Science Experiments

Clean Your Pennies

Do you have a jar full of pennies you would love to see shiny?

Our Science Experiment

We are going to clean off copper pennies and make them shine like new.

What you need

10-20 dirty pennies
glass jar
vinegar
1 teaspoon salt

How to perform this experiment

Fill your jar half full with vinegar and then stir in the salt. Put all your pennies into the jar. After about 5-10 minutes, remove your pennies, rinse them with water and dry them with a towel.

Watch!

All your pennies are shiny and look new!

Why did it do that?

Over time copper gets a residue on it called copper oxide. The vinegar and salt takes the residue off.

I wonder what would happen if

I wonder what would happen if I didn't rinse one of the pennies off?