Year 5 thoroughly enjoyed a fascinating afternoon at The Innovation Space, courtesy of Mr Munt and Mike who welcomed us to a ‘Fantastic Finish’ for our Ancient Greek Topic. Mr Munt had come up with the fabulous idea of creating Greek coins and making them gold!
Safety First – we wore special aprons from the Chemistry lab, and also protective glasses. We also used special black gloves and once we put these on, we were not allowed to touch our faces.
Here is a summary of the chemistry process that we completed:
• Turning “Silver”: The copper coin is placed in a warm mixture of zinc powder and sodium hydroxide. A chemical reaction coats the outside of the copper coin with a very thin layer of zinc, which makes it look bright and silver.
• Turning “Gold”: When we heat this silver-looking coin, the thermal energy causes the layer of zinc to mix with the copper underneath. This creates a mixture of the two metals (an alloy) called brass, which has a beautiful, gold-like appearance!
Thank you so much to Mr Munt and Mike for a fantastic afternoon – we had so much fun! Thank you to Clara for giving the vote of thanks.
Click on the Firefly link below to see the full photo gallery
