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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

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Composition of copper tarnish vs. tooth enamel

Dear reader,

Good day, I'm Anne from the Philippines and I'm a ninth grader. In my science project, I use tarnished pennies to replace enamel. What is a tarnish composed of? Does it have any similarities of composition in tooth enamel? Thank you for spending your time reading my letter. Hoping for your answer.

Yours truly,
Anne

Anne S [surname deleted for privacy by Editor]
student - Cebu, Philippines
November 10, 2010

Hi, Anne.

The tarnish on pennies is copper oxide, and there is not much copper in the human body. I don't see the similarity. But some schools apparently try to demonstrate that carbonated drinks are bad for students' teeth by corroding pennies with soft drinks -- and maybe that's what you are eluding to?

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
November 11, 2010

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