There are many options for experiments that test both carbonated beverages and pennies. Students may want to see how effective carbonated beverages are at removing rust from pennies. This can make up the entire experiment or it can be a portion of a larger science experiment. For example, a student may want to monitor several effects of carbonated beverages on pennies, including rust removal and corrosiveness.
Younger students may have their hands full monitoring just one type of carbonated beverage, like soda. Older students, however, should see how several different carbonated beverages affect pennies. Several different sodas can be used. Also, different types of liquids, like water, juice and even cleaning supplies can be part of the experiment as well and used as a comparison to the carbonated beverages.
An equal amount of each liquid should be poured into a separate cup. Each cup should be made of the same material. One penny should be dropped into each cup of liquid. To create a more complicated experiment, one type of liquid can be poured into two separate cups. Two different pennies -- one new and clean and the other one rusted -- can be placed into each cup of liquid. This way, the effect of the carbonated beverages on both rusted and clean pennies can be monitored and compared.
The makeup of pennies has changed through the years. Before 1982, pennies were made mostly of copper and with a little bit of zinc. After 1982, pennies were made with mostly zinc and only a little bit of copper. This should be taken into consideration when students are collecting pennies. This can even be incorporated into the experiment -- carbonated beverages can be tested on pennies from different years to see the results on different materials.
Students should watch each penny and write down the way it’s reacting to the liquids over one week’s time. The pennies should be monitored at the same time or times every day -- such as in the morning and the evening. At the end of the experiment, a conclusion, or several conclusions, can be drawn about how each type of penny reacts to the different carbonated beverages.