![]() ![]() But when these copper atoms leave the penny, they leave some of their electrons behind. That means some copper atoms leave the penny and start floating around in the liquid. When you put your dirty pennies in the vinegar and salt, the copper oxide and some of the copper dissolve in the water. Negative charges attract positive charges, so electrons attract protons. Electrons are negatively charged and protons are positively charged. Electrons and protons are both electrically charged particles. Atoms are made up of even smaller particles called protons, neutrons, and electrons. To understand how the nail and screw got coated with copper, you need to understand a little bit more about atoms. How did the nail and the screw get coated with copper? When the vinegar and salt dissolve the copper-oxide layer, they make it easier for the copper atoms to join oxygen from the air and chlorine from the salt to make a blue-green compound called malachite. Why did the unrinsed pennies turn blue-green? You could also clean your pennies with salt and lemon juice or orange juice, because those juices are acids, too. ![]() Why did the vinegar and salt clean the pennies?Ĭopper oxide dissolves in a mixture of weak acid and table salt-and vinegar is an acid. The pennies looked dull and dirty because they were covered with copper oxide. Copper atoms can combine with oxygen atoms from the air to make a molecule called copper oxide. But sometimes atoms of different kinds join to make molecules. The copper of a penny, for example, is made up of copper atoms. Some things are made up of just one kind of atom. Why did the pennies look dirty before I put them in the vinegar?Įverything around you is made up of tiny particles called atoms. ![]()
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