Nickie Dinovo Physics 21 September 2012 Experiment 1.Title: Penny Experiment 2.

Purpose: In this experiment we will place dirty pennies in water, vinegar, salt water, and a mixture of vinegar and salt. We are testing what best removes the dirty residue on the pennies. 3. Hypothesis: Placing dirty pennies in water will not clean the pennies at all. Vinegar will clean the dirt a little bit. Salt water will not clean the penny at all. Using cup white vinegar and 1-teaspoon salt will clean the pennies. 4. Materials: 20 dirty pennies, 4 plastic glasses, cup vinegar, 2 teaspoons salt, water, paper towels 5. Procedures: 1.) Place one cup of water in one of the glasses, 1/4 cup of vinegar in another, cup of water plus one tablespoon salt in another, and cup vinegar plus 1 tablespoon salt in the last. Stir each glass until everything is dissolved 2.) Dip a penny half way into the water, hold for 30 seconds, and pull out. Repeat 4 more times. 3.) Dip a penny half way into the vinegar, hold for 30 seconds, and pull out. Repeat 4 more times. 4.) Dip a penny half way into the salt water, hold for 30 seconds, and pull out. Repeat 4 more times. 5.) Dip a penny half way into the salt and vinegar mixture, hold for 30 seconds, and pull out. Repeat 4 more times. 6.) After finished with each penny, rinse with water, and set to dry on a paper towel with the name of the solution it was dipped in.

1 is not shiny; 10 is the shininess

6. Data: Water Data Experiment Number 1 2 3 4 5 Amount of Shininess 1-10 0 0 0 0 0 Vinegar Data Experiment Number 6 7 8 9 10 Amount of Shininess 1-10 4 5 5 4 4 Salt Water Data Experiment Number 11 12 13 14 15 Amount of Shininess 1-10 0 0 0 0 0

Vinegar and Salt Data Experiment Number 16 17 18 19 20 Amount of Shininess 1-10 9 10 8 9 10

Expirement 5 Expirement 4 Expirement 3 Expirement 2 Expirement 1

7. Response to Hypothesis- Our hypothesis was proven to be correct. 8. Analysis1. The trends that we see in our data are that pennies dipped in vinegar and water showed the most results, vinegar showed a little bit of cleanliness, and salt and water showed non.

2. Some changes we decided to make were to dip the penny in each liquid halfway instead of all the way, so we could see the obvious change on the penny. We also decided to use plastic cups instead of glasses because they were easier to bring to school, and easier to dip the pennies into. 3. Some sources of error that may have made our experiment less that perfect was that not each penny had the same amount of dirtiness on them. This may have affected our rating of the cleanness for our data. Also, all of the pennies were not all from the same year. This may have affected how the salt and vinegar reacted with the pennies, because pennies from different years have different percentages of metals in them. 4. To eliminate the error, we could take completely clean pennies and make them the same amount of dirtiness ourselves. We could also choose all pennies from the same year. 9. Conclusion With a good deal of research, we have learned what is happening during our experiment. The dirtiness we saw on the pennies is actually copper oxide. When dipped into the vinegar, it creates a chemical reaction. In this chemical reaction, the vinegar removes the copper tarnish, but, with the vinegar, another chemical reaction occurs to but the copper back. With the salt and vinegar, the same thing happens, except the salt interrupts the chemical reaction to replace the copper. Basically, the copper oxide is being removed because the acid (vinegar and salt) is dissolving it. A good experiment is one that can help you explain how the universe works through testable hypothesis and predictions. A good experiment must also start with a problem/question, add to your knowledge base, have a hypothesis, have collectible data, have a variable/controlled element, and have repeatable results. We definitely believe that the Penny Experiment was good. Although, there are somethings that could be improved with it, stated above. Overall, we believe that the Penny Experiment was excellent, and helped add much to our knowledge of the universe.