6/4/2002: The pitch-drop experiment

[Slight]

I have an experiment like this, although it is not nearly as interesting. My earth sciences teacher in eight grade said that given infinite time, water could disolve anything. Now I doubt the authenticity of this statement since pure gold would never rust/deteriorate/dissolve. Anyway I never liked the fact that US Currency makes it through the wash. Seems like if paper disolves in water, dollar bills, which are paper money, should come apart in water. So I took a martenelli's bottle and filled it with water. I let is sit a couple days to degass. Then I put a $1 bill in and corked it. The water is now quite dirty but the bill is still intact. I know this is a crime but it is my money.

[WyrdNyrd]

Originally Posted by Slight

I have an experiment like this, although it is not nearly as interesting. My earth sciences teacher in eight grade said that given infinite time, water could disolve anything. Now I doubt the authenticity of this statement since pure gold would never rust/deteriorate/dissolve. Anyway I never liked the fact that US Currency makes it through the wash. Seems like if paper disolves in water, dollar bills, which are paper money, should come apart in water. So I took a martenelli's bottle and filled it with water. I let is sit a couple days to degass. Then I put a $1 bill in and corked it. The water is now quite dirty but the bill is still intact. I know this is a crime but it is my money.

Given enough time the experiment will work, but one problem exists. US currency, dollar bills, is not made from paper. They are made from cotton.