Will philippine coin (1 peso and 5 peso )melt in muriatic acid? leaving a shell heres a demo?
Answer:
The philippine coins are a copper-nickel alloy which will not react as shown in the video. A much much slower reaction will take place. The coins in the video are US pennies made since 1982 which are 97% zinc with a copper coating. It is the zinc that rapidly reacts with the acid leaving the copper plating.
I thing because the alloy contains Cu and Zn
Cu + 2 HCl >> CuCl2 + H2 (g)
similary
Zn + 2 HCl >> ZnCl2 + H2(g)
What makes the penny demo work is that the zinc interior is rapidly dissolved (not "melted") in hydrochloric acid. Muriatic acid that you get at the hardware store is concentrated hydrochloric acid -- be careful, you don't need it to be that concentrated. Copper does not dissolve as quickly (not nearly) so it is left behind as a shell. The Phillipine coin will work if it is also a copper-on-zinc coating. It will likely not work if it is an alloy of the two metals.
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