Science
One of my coworkers has made certain disparaging claims in regards to coke and its ability to dissolve items.
As a scientist ("social scientist" to be precise) I could neither ignore her claims nor allow the copious literature on the internet to decide the matter for me.
Also I opened a can of coke with my lunch and decided I didn't want it, and was going to dump it. Thus materials were available.
My initial test is inherently flawed and I acknowledge that I will need to run several series of tests in order to maintain scientific rigour. For instance there is only about a third of a glass of coke since I drank some. Also cross contamination since I drank it while eating lunch. However it is a good starting point.
In the future I plan to run three side by side tests controlling for the following variables:
1) New can of coke
2) Same year for the penny (apparently it matters)
3) Same volume of coke per glass.
I will, of course, keep you posted.
As a scientist ("social scientist" to be precise) I could neither ignore her claims nor allow the copious literature on the internet to decide the matter for me.
Also I opened a can of coke with my lunch and decided I didn't want it, and was going to dump it. Thus materials were available.
My initial test is inherently flawed and I acknowledge that I will need to run several series of tests in order to maintain scientific rigour. For instance there is only about a third of a glass of coke since I drank some. Also cross contamination since I drank it while eating lunch. However it is a good starting point.
In the future I plan to run three side by side tests controlling for the following variables:
1) New can of coke
2) Same year for the penny (apparently it matters)
3) Same volume of coke per glass.
I will, of course, keep you posted.
posted by Bne | 12:57 PM
5 Comments:
For true scientification you should include a control group where you substitute mentos for pennies.
@enthemic: I believe the Coke would have to be Diet Coke for that to be really funny. Something about the aspartame?
@bne: Oddly enough, the whole "pennies having different compositions in different years" thing just came up in conversation here. You can hear the difference in copper (pre-1983) and the zinc (1983 and later) pennies when you drop them on a hard surface; the copper ones ring and the zinc ones clonk.
That's for U.S. currency, though. Apparently Canadian pennies are mostly steel so they might not react much to the Coke. You'll probably have more dramatic results if you use a metal the oxidizes quicker, like iron. Try a nail instead of a penny.
Actually, I hear the test gives much better results if you use a human kidney. You'll need at least two - one for the control group and one for the actual testing.
By weird coincidence it's a 1983 penny. I pulled it out today for a visual inspection. After one day in the coke it is now really really clean.
And Amy, I don't have any nails. Well, that's probably a lie, but if I find my nails to do this test then I have no reason to put off putting up my various pictures that are still not mounted in my apartment.
Cause I have no nails...
@Ceno. Am I putting the pennies in the kidneys, or the kidneys in the coke?
Well, you could test it all ways, in which case you will need three kidneys - one to put the penny in without submersing it in coke, one to put in some neutral substance like water, and one to put a penny in and then put it in coke.
Now, here's the difficulty. Human kidneys usually come in pairs, so you're going to have a spare. Maybe try putting one *beside* a penny in the coke.
THAT is and experiment that's more scientifically sound than the DNA tests they do with sea urchins.
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