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Separating a Canadian $2 Coin with Liquid Nitrogen?

I have heard the Urban Legend that if you chill a Canadian

2-dollar coin in Liquid Nitrogen, the central brass-coloured part can be pushed out of the surrounding silver-coloured part. If this is true, I would like to use it to demonstrate Thermal Expansion to my physics class. I have the twoonie, I can get the liquid nitrogen, but I have no idea if the legend is true.

1) Has anyone actually done this?

2) Did it work?

3) Once chilled, what did it take to get the center to actually pop out (hammer, screwdriver, dropping the coin on a hard floor, etc.)?

Reply to
Paul Ciszek
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Being a Physics type myself - and just finishing up a letter to my old school department :-)

What is the coefficient of thermal expansion - Chilling will make the disks thicker IIRC and this might split the sides of the larger cover. Heating might make the disks wider IIRC - and do the same ?

I'd give it a try - just by itself - and see what happens. Just in a petri dish or beaker. Be prepared if it 'snaps' apart - might be a problem.

Martin Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH, NRA Life NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Paul Ciszek wrote:

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

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