Beautiful, metallic mirrors of copper or silver can easily be formed in test tubes. Simply add the appropriate metal salt to a test tube, and heat! These reactions should be performed in a fume hood.
This post describes a simple way to generate blue, green, orange, and yellow copper complexes, and to use these complexes to introduce students to the effect of temperature on chemical equilibria. The protcol avoids the use of caustic agents, allowing the experiments to be conducted by students as a laboratory-based investigation.
Learn how to form a blue-green copper compound on a penny, and then use that compound to make green flames. This is a great summer time activity for your next campfire!
Simple chemical tests are described that can indicate the presence of certain metals in coins. A wide variety of chemical concepts are involved. The experiments described are a natural fit for the 2019 National Chemistry Week theme of "Marvelous Metals!"
This post describes some simple experiments using various coins and neodymium magnets that connect to the 2019 National Chemistry Week theme of Marvelous Metals!
Biosorption is a method that can be used for the removal of pollutants from wastewater, especially those that are not easily biodegradable. This experiment uses citrus fruit peels as part of a iodometric titration to conduct a wastewater treatment binding copper.
Take a look at an old favorite, the brass penny activity. There are several variations of procedural steps to be found. The safest version uses either a low concentration of NaOH or a solution of zinc chloride.
I am fascinated by the chemistry of pennies. I have tried several experiments found in the Journal of Chemical Education.
