You must have seen tarnished copper vessels being cleaned with lemon or tamarind juice. Explain why these sour substances are effective in cleaning the vessels.
Answer
- Green coating on copper is copper carbonate. It is formed by the reaction of copper with carbon dioxide , moisture and oxygen in the atmosphere.
- Copper is a metal . Hence, it forms a basic oxide .
- So, Copper oxide is basic in nature.
- Lemon and tamarind juice are acidic in nature.
- Lemon / tamarind juice reacts with the basic copper oxide to neutralise it, forming salt and water and thus cleaning them.
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