This is so cool, ya’ll! I just read my email from the uber cool science dude, Steve Spangler – and ya’ll know how much I love his stuff! Guess what he’s doing on St. Patrick’s Day! He’s turning pennies gold! It is so cool! I would really love to try this. Steve and his son, Mark, went to visit Channel 9 News in Boulder to show them how to make this happen! His little boy is so cute!
I think I only went so far as Biology in high school. I really wish there had been someone around when I was a kid that made science as fun and as interesting as Steve does. Watching Bill Nye with my kids when they were little was what first turned me on to the fact that science is something that I can enjoy, too! And then we had “The Mad Science Guy” in Richardson, TX – who would put on demonstrations at the community centers. The kids and I loved to go see him. And guess what? My 13 year old daughter loves science! Awesome! That absolutely tickles me!!
I’m getting way off subject here, and way on my soapbox, let’s get back to those groovy gold pennies, shall we?
Is that superbly awesome, or what? I just love it! The pennies look so cool like that. And isn’t that interesting what he was saying about people trying to put them back into circulation and that when they’re like that they can’t go back into circulation? Can you imagine if someone handed you some as if everything was normal? Like maybe, the checker at the grocery store giving you change just hands you some …and then you see her cast a sideways glance at her coworker. And you and your kids are just standing there freaking out. And she’s saying, “What? What is the problem, ma’m?” And you can tell she’s trying so hard not to crack a smile? That would be so funny!
Here is the list of materials you need for this experiment:
* 20 mL of 6 M NaOH
* 0.1 g zinc dust
* evaporating dish
* hot plate
* tongs
* 200 mL beaker of water
* penny
* Bunsen burner or a propane torch
And you can read all the details about the experiment on this page: Gold Pennies experiment at SteveSpanglerScience.com
