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Question Questions 13
You must have seen tarnished copper vessels being cleaned with lemon or tamarind juice. Explain why these sour substances are effective in cleaning the vessels.
When copper vessels come into contact with moist carbon dioxide in the air, copper carbonate is formed that gets deposited as a green layer on the surface of these copper vessels and tarnishes them. The citric acid present in lemon or tamarind juice acts to neutralize the basic copper carbonate, effectively dissolving this layer. This restores the characteristic luster of the copper vessels.