Introduction to Matter (Book)

Reversing Chemical Changes

Because chemical changes produce new substances, they often cannot be undone. For example, you can’t change a fried egg back to a raw egg. Some chemical changes can be reversed, but only by other chemical changes. For example, to undo the tarnish on copper pennies, you can place them in vinegar. The acid in the vinegar reacts with the tarnish. This is a chemical change that makes the pennies bright and shiny again. You can try this yourself at home to see how well it works.