The first lab of the year, titled Penny for Your Thoughts, was a demonstration of alchemy, a process in which scientists attempted to turn base metals into gold.
∴ DESCRIBE WHAT YOU OBSERVED DURING THE EXPERIMENT?
During the experiment, the zinc first turned the pennies silver. The zinc and the copper then reacted in the flames of the bunsen burner, turning the pennies a gold color.
∴ WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED TO TURN THE PENNY SILVER?
The penny turned silver because the penny was coated with pure zinc over a heated plate. The zinc, silver in color, bonded to the penny because of the heat.
WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED TO TURN THE PENNY GOLD?
∴ The zinc and copper conducted electricity and a chemical reaction occured. Also, at one point during the experiment, we dropped the flaming hot penny to the ground, and it broke in half! I wonder if we could put the broken penny back into the fire, and mold it back to its original shape...?
∴ DO YOU THINK YOU MADE REAL GOLD?
Honestly, if we made real gold, the alchemists would go crazy! Plus, the value of gold would decrease rapidly if someone could REALLY turn an average base metal into gold. Plus, the inside of the penny was not gold, but silver instead. I believe that we created fool's gold.
∴ HOW COULD YOU FIND OUT?
Gold is very dense. This penny was the same density as its true form, copper.
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