Is there any way to extract copper from coins? Questioning for a possible chemistry experiment

Is there any way to extract copper from coins? Questioning for a possible chemistry experiment.

Other urls found in this thread:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_(United_States_coin)#History_of_composition
youtube.com/watch?v=k0lCuhMRuz4
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

It doesn't matter if it's U.S. or EU coins

Well I tried at the uni and Copper is like 2% of the coin so.. yes but not much

How did you do it?

US pennies are zinc plated with a very thin layer of copper 2% copper 98% zinc since 1982 pre 1982 pennies are 100% copper

I understand this but I was wondering how I could turn tons of coins into copper, even the slightest amounts.

Go to a local paint supply store.
Ask for copper powder.
Done.

If you're trying for a redux reaction or similar, use water.

maybe just get pre-82 pennies?

Can you explain further?

Easier said then done. Plus I like the experimentation aspect.

Do you just want copper, or is this to specifically extract copper from coins? Cos you can buy copper at the hardware store in convenient pipe form.

No, it is to specifically extract the copper from coins.

is a felony

No one is going to care as long as I don't have any ill intentions like doing this for a profit. This is an experiment only.

Oh shit y'all, it's the no fun police. What are you gonna do, call the FBI?

just letting him know is all

Get a mason jar
Fill it 3/4 with pennies
Fill half up with ammonia, half with bleach
This leaches the copper from the pennies
Get a straw and stick it down as far as you can and blow bubbles between the pennies to speed up oxidization
After 15 mins of blowing pour the liquid through an old shirt or cheesecloth and you’ll have 100% copper left

What experiment are you going to conduct

1) get copper pennies.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_(United_States_coin)#History_of_composition

2), heat to 1984.32 °F

Oh boy, sounds harmless AND fun! -.-

>pennies
>Fill half up with ammonia, half with bleach
>This leaches the copper from the pennies
>Get a straw and stick it down as far as you can and blow bubbles between the pennies to speed up oxidization
>After 15 mins of blowing pour the liquid through an old shirt or cheesecloth and you’ll have 100% copper left


DO NOT DO THIS. It will produce chlorine gas and possibly kill you. This user better hope hell and/or Karma doesn't exist.

HCl will dissolve zinc.

This isn't a great experiement.

I understand this but will it leave behind copper?

Go look at Cody's lab on youtube I'm sure he has a video about such a topic.

I watched that and it is a great video but he used pure gold to gold plate other metals. I just need the pure copper from coins...

It will dissolve copper too, but more slowly than the zinc.

Is this reddit now

While it's a terrible idea to do this for monetary gain but here it goes:
There's basically two steps:
1) Melt that shit and let sedimentation do the rough sorting - metals have different densities and once completely molten will start to seperate, that takes A LOT of energy, A LOT of metal and a big fucking pot where you can keep it for some weeks till it cools down. (Surely nothing you can do in your garage.) Then cut or break out the parts with high copper percentage and proceed to step 2.
2) Electrolysis - essentially stick two cables into acid, one connected to the metal plates (from step 1) with suspsected high copper content and one connected to a copper rod. According to the currents flowing you'll move the copper from the low percentage copper plates to the copper electrodes. This also takes A LOT of power. You'll also have to do this more than once to get to a decent purity.

It also makes cool cryatals!

Dont do this either, the radiowaves will melt your fucking brain

Dumb troll

While he's obviously trolling he's not entirely wrong. There's an amount of electromagnetic radiation involved in that kind of work which may give you skin cancer at some point.

Nice projecting

Skiddle skiddle doodle your dick is now a noodle..

THE GAME

Isn't there any easier way that I can do this at home? I'm not trying to get a ton of copper!

This guy gets it!!

Acids produces radiation.

Well depends what the planned outcome and reason for your project. If you just want some copper i'd suggest to get to the hardware store and buy a bunch of cables / raw copper wire.

It's not about getting copper. It's about extracting copper from coins!

Ah nvmnd, i've read the op again.
Well you COULD do a simplified version of and try just electrolysis.
I think it may depend on the type of acid you're using which metal gets dissolved, so you may be able to fine tune with that, but don't expect too good results. You'll also probably have to wipe the surface of the coin regularly to keep the electrolysis going.

Something like
youtube.com/watch?v=k0lCuhMRuz4