Science Fair tough on Lincoln Cents

[CarlWohlforth]

I attended my daughter's science fair last night. The good news is the US Mints makes lots of Cents. The bad news is some are getting pretty messed up in the name of science education!

 

In the "Which Toothpaste Cleans Pennies Best" experiment the student concludes it is Arm and Hammer toothpaste. He has evidence to support his claim. The "Which Soda Pop Cleans Pennies Best" experiment was not as conclusive with Diet Pepsi being a popular soda at the fair (it was also used in several Mentos experiments). There was also an electro-plating experiment. And I was only looking at 8th grade experiments, there may have been other Cents destroyed in the lower grades.

[SkyMan]

Oh no, after several billion science experiments we might run short of them!!!

[Hoot]

 

Now try a little electrolysis of zinc cents with the zinc exposed. There's nearly too much fun to be had with killing L cents!

 

Hoot

[astrostu]

In 10th grade chemistry, we took pre-1982 cents and post-1982 cents, filed off some of the rim, and stuck them both in acid. We were left with the same pre-1982 copper, but a hollow shell of the post-1982 because the hydrochloric acid ate away at the zinc. I think I still have both of those coins somewhere in my closet.

[halfpint]

I attended my daughter's science fair last night. The good news is the US Mints makes lots of Cents. The bad news is some are getting pretty messed up in the name of science education!

 

In the "Which Toothpaste Cleans Pennies Best" experiment the student concludes it is Arm and Hammer toothpaste. He has evidence to support his claim. The "Which Soda Pop Cleans Pennies Best" experiment was not as conclusive with Diet Pepsi being a popular soda at the fair (it was also used in several Mentos experiments). There was also an electro-plating experiment. And I was only looking at 8th grade experiments, there may have been other Cents destroyed in the lower grades.

 

 

just make sure they don't try and sell them for melt!

 

 

[CarlWohlforth]

I was checking the dates. Fortunately I didn't find any desirable ones.

 

But this was just one grade in one middle school. There are many middle schools in San Jose, there are many cities in California, and the US has 50 states. That could add up to a lot of cents!

[Gemma]

My daughter did a Science Fair project about "How liquids affect coins" that involved pennies and dimes. The only liquid that had any effect was bleach, but my daughter was more interested in using milk and then the way it spoiled during the few days the coins were immersed (she's 8). She didn't make it to the County level, but I did see a penny battery there that made it....

So there may be cause for concern..

j/k

[physics-fan3.14]

And then people put all these science fair coins back into circulation, and someone finds it, and then we have to answer numerous questions about them, because people think they have something rare and valuable.