"Gold" Penny Lab: Forming Brass from Zinc and Copper

The Materials Science and Technology Teacher's Workshop (MAST) provides this experiment on forming brass and bronze from pennies. Students will use post and pre-1983 pennies to create bronze and brass alloys. The class will learn the differences between brass, bronze and copper as well as laboratory procedures for working with metals. The lesson includes a step by step explanation of the laboratory procedure, discussion questions, and teacher notes. The exercise should take about 40 minutes of class time.