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.