Making a Copper Acetate Solution from Household Chemicals
Mix acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide. The household version of acetic acid is vinegar. It is a dilute form of acetic acid that shows up in many home chemistry experiments. Mix it with hydrogen peroxide, which is usually kept in homes to clean cuts and scrapes (in the brown plastic bottle). Use a 50/50 mixture. For example, if you use 1 cup (237 ml) of vinegar, use 1 cup (237 ml) of hydrogen peroxide. It is best to use plain white vinegar. Wear gloves and goggles when dealing with acids and oxidizers. You don't want them on your skin or in your eyes.
Heat the solution in a glass container. Though the solution does not have to be boiling for the reaction to occur, bringing it to a boil takes out the guesswork. Put the solution on the stove in a stovetop-safe glass container and let it come to a slight boil. Once at a boil, it is ready to react with copper to form copper acetate.
Add copper to the solution. Use copper wire or a penny to supply copper for the reaction. Lower the copper into the solution, being careful not to splash yourself or touch the hot solution. You should be wearing gloves and goggles in case the solution does splash. If you are using a penny, know that you should only use pennies minted in or before 1982. After that, pennies have been made from copper plated zinc and only contain about 2.5% copper (down from 88-95% copper up to 1982).
Monitor the reaction. Watch for the solution to change color. A blue color indicates that copper acetate has formed. This should happen in a matter of minutes. If the solution does not turn blue, copper acetate did not form. In this case, check your reagents. Make sure the vinegar and peroxide are in correct proportions and that the chemicals are not expired. Also, verify that your copper source is truly copper and not just another metal plated with copper.
Reacting Common Chemicals to Form Copper Acetate Solution
Make calcium acetate. Add calcium carbonate to vinegar. Mix until the calcium carbonate is completely dissolved. You can order calcium carbonate from a chemical supplier, but this is not necessary as it is the main ingredient in chalk. Use plain white vinegar. You can simply grind up chalk to make calcium carbonate powder. Goggles and gloves should be worn while working with acids. Use half as much calcium carbonate by volume as vinegar. For example, if you use 2 cups (473 ml) of vinegar, use 1 cup (237 ml) of calcium carbonate.
Add the calcium acetate to a copper sulfate solution. Copper sulfate is another easy chemical to find at a home and garden store. It is often branded as a fungicide. It may also be labeled as a stump killer. It is found dissolved in water. Pour the calcium acetate solution in slowly until the color turns blue. The blue color indicates that you have made copper acetate. The resulting solution should be blue in color. Avoid getting the solution on your skin or in your eyes by wearing gloves and goggles.
Filter the solution. The blue solution contains dissolved copper acetate. There will also be a solid that precipitates out of the solution (calcium sulfate). Pour the solution through a strainer to remove the calcium sulfate. You will be left with a blue copper acetate solution. Calcium sulfate is irritating to the skin and eyes, so wear goggles and gloves while handling it. If you get any on your skin, wash immediately with soap and water. If you get it in your eyes, flush them with warm water for at least 15 minutes. You can safely dispose of small amounts of calcium sulfate (under 5 lbs or 2.3 kg) in a regular trash container, as long as the container is in good shape and has a tightly sealed lid. Consider saving your calcium sulfate to use in other experiments, such as heating with charcoal to produce calcium sulfide.
Growing Copper Acetate Crystals
Dissolve copper acetate monohydrate in water. These pellets can be found at a chemical supply store or ordered online. Drop them into warm water. Stir the water with a glass stirring rod until the crystals are completely dissolved. The solution should be blue in color. If you have made your own copper acetate solution from household chemicals, this step is not necessary.
Facilitate the precipitation. Copper acetate will precipitate spontaneously. Leave the solution in a cool, dry place. As the water evaporates, copper acetate will be forced out of solution. You will see blue crystals form across the surface of your dish. You can also drop a crystal in the solution to jump-start the precipitation. Put the solution out of reach of small children and pets. If left unattended, pets and small children may ingest the solution. This can lead to acute copper poisoning that can be dangerous or even fatal.
Dry the crystals. Once you have obtained crystals, pour off any remaining solution. Transfer the crystals to a paper towel. Let them sit for a day or 2 to dry out.
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