For years an Urban Legend has circulated in emails around the world. The claims are that Coca Cola will dissolve a nail within 24-72 hours. Other claims are that it will dissolve a nail in four days. My son Dallas, and I decided to prove it one way or another. Here is what we discovered.
Our main concern was to find out IF indeed a nail would dissolve in Coca Cola. We bet each other that it would not dissolve the nail. November 23, 2002 was the beginning date of this experiment.
In the first two pictures we took a large flash light, and in a clear jar placed the nails immersed in the Coca Cola. The nails immediately began to fizzle, and continued to do so for about an hour.
We place a large pink rubber band which was from a stock of broccoli (and a few moments later a regular rubber band) into another jar. They both floated at first, and then began to sink.
In another jar which was brown in color (we did not have any other clear jars) we placed a shiny 2002 penny to see if the Coca Cola would brighten or tarnish it.
In still another brown jar, we placed an old tooth that the "Tooth Fairy" gave to me. When we added the Coca Cola, the tooth began to fizzle. Fizzling did not last very long.
We left all ingredients alone until November 29, 2002.
Here are the results:
The nails darkened and turned black. We could see the nails were developing some pitting and corrosion.
They did not dissolve.
The tooth turned an ugly brown, and when Dallas handled it, part of the tooth fell apart.
Both rubber bands sank to the bottom of the jar. The brown rubber band was a little higher in the jar and developed some sort of growth on it. Three ants had somehow gotten into the jar, and died clinging onto it. However, the pink rubber band seemed to remain in the same condition as when it started even though it sank.
The penny was shiny to start with, however, it seems being immersed in the Coca Cola made it shine even more.
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Click on picture to see larger version.
From left to right...
Nails in Coca Cola fizzle in both pictures on left.
Rubber band, nails, penny, and tooth before experiment.
Penny, tooth, and nails after experiment. The nail on the right is what the original nail looked like before the experiment.
Now you can draw your own conclusions.
What do you think?
Do you have an Urban Legend similar to this one that you would like us to experiment with, or find out what the "real" truth is? Email me with your request.
