Cleaning Pennies

For Science, we experimented with vinegar and salt to clean pennies.

We filled a jar with some vinegar and mixed in a teaspoon of salt. Unfortunately, we could not find the white vinegar. It is in a moving box somewhere. So, instead we tried using apple cider vinegar.

We let the pennies soak in the solution for a few minutes. Then, Caleb took out half of the coins and let them dry on a paper towel. The other half of the coins, he washed off with water before laying them on the paper towel to dry.

The pennies weren't too clean after soaking for those few minutes. So, we made up the same solution again and let them set throughout lunch and our movie.

Again, Caleb took half out and let them dry on a paper towel and the other half out and washed them off before setting them out to dry. They were a little cleaner than before, but still weren't clean like our Science book said they would be, so we are going to do it all again once we find our white vinegar. The pennies that are not washed off, still have some solution on them, so when the oxygen in the air hits them, a new reaction is supposed to occur, turning them a bluish-green color and this is what happened. TO BE CONTINUTED.

Caleb read an easy reader out of the homeschool materials we inherited from his homeschooling cousins. The movie we watched was a how to make a tree house documentary called "Measure Twice, Cut Once" by Franklin Springs Media. The boys are always fired up to build something after watching this movie.

Caleb's math took a much more challenging turn today, so I doubt he will be flying through his worksheets as fast now. He is now on chapter, or lesson, number 9. Each lesson has 6 worksheets.

Back with an update: Not much to say. Caleb set the pennies in a jar with the white vinegar and salt solution, and they are still pretty dirty.