On Wednesday, we did an experiment called the Penny Lab. It involved turning a penny into a gold color through a series of chemical reactions. First, we dipped a penny in a hot zinc and sodium hydroxide mixture, and left them there for about 15 minutes. When we came back, we took the pennies out and washed them off in cold water. We started up the Bunsen burner, and made a nice hot blue flame (safely of course). Then, we inserted the pennies into the flame for a couple seconds and washed them off in water. The result: a gold penny! Many came out bent and burnt, but we could see that they had turned a bright yellow gold on the outside.
While you could probably fool young children with them, the reality is it wasn't real gold and it was nothing more than a cover up. :<
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