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    Science Experiment - Making Pennies Green

    Published: Sep 5, 2016 · Modified: Jul 21, 2022 by Vicky · This post contains affiliate links.

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    My kids always enjoy a fun science experiment. We have learned so much with Simple Science for Preschoolers and an awe inducing Ice Cube Experiment. So naturally, when I asked my kids if they wanted to do a science experiment where we would be making pennies green, they were all for it. This easy experiment takes just minutes to set up which is always a plus in my book!

    This easy kids science experiment will teach kids how to make pennies turn green and teach them why that happens. Fun science activity!

    Science Experiment - Making Pennies Green

    You will need:

    • Pan to hold the experiment (we used a small casserole dish)
    • 2 paper towels
    • White vinegar
    • Pennies
    vinegar, pennies, paper towel, pan

    We started out by lining our pan with paper towels. We made a layer using a few paper towels.

    putting napkins in pan

    Next it was time to add the vinegar. The kids were curious to smell the vinegar. They were not pleased with the scent.

    child smelling vinegar

    Pour the vinegar onto the paper towels until it is absorbed. We used about ⅓ cup of vinegar. Make sure you use enough to wet the entire paper towel.

    pouring vinegar in pan

    Now it's time to add the pennies on top of the paper towel.

    placing pennies on napkin

    Next, comes the toughest part of this science experiment - the waiting. For maximum results, you'll want to wait 24 hours.

    pennies on paper towels

    My kids insisted on watching to see if they pennies started to change color. But you know how they say a watched pot never boils? Well, watched pennies never turn green. We set the pennies aside and went about our day.

    kids doing science experiment

    The pennies did not turn green right away, but even after a few hours, we noticed that some green was starting to appear on them.

    green penny experiment

    After 24 hours, we were pleased to see that the pennies had turned green. Depending on the age and condition of the pennies, some got more green than others. We were surprised when we picked up the pennies that the bottom of the paper towel where the pennies were had turned green as well.

    green penny

    So what happened and why did the pennies turn green in our science experiment? The acetic acid in the vinegar reacts with the cooper oxide on the pennies and the cooper in the penny to form  copper acetate, which is green.

    We found that this experiment works better with older pennies since prioir to 1983 pennies were 95% cooper. Current pennies are are little over 2% cooper.

    child with green pennies

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    Comments

    1. gabe

      December 04, 2020 at 10:43 am

      so whats the reipei please tell me

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    Hi, I'm Vicky, the founder and content creator at Mess For Less. If you are looking for family-friendly recipes, recipes that kids can make, and play and learning activities for kids, you will find them at Mess For Less. I invite you to learn more about me. Thanks for stopping by!

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