Mr. Lincoln Glows

In this video clip titiled Mr. Lincoln Glows, Mr. Lincoln refers to a copper penny that is used as a catalyst to speed up a reaction. In this case the reaction is the decomposition of a simple organic molecule called acetone. The normal decomposition of acetone happens very slowly and so the acetone would evaporate in the room long before you could get any significant breakage of the acetone. So to speed up this reaction, the copper penny is heated over a flame and then placed in the beaker just above the acetone. With the copper held in place above the acetone, the acetone molcules land on the copper's surface and that is how it speeds up the decomposition of acetone into 2 other organic molecules (ketene and methane). With the presence of oxygen, combustion takes place burning the small organic molecules to produce carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O), and heat which keeps the copper catalyst hot so it continues to participate in the breakdown of acetone. The penny will glow for about an hour as it is held above the acetone.
As we learned in our microbiolgy class, a catalyst is a substance that remains unchanged while speeding up a reaction. This is a good example of how the copper penny is used as a catalyst to speed up the reaction but does not directly participate in the reaction and is not consumed, therefore it remains remains unchanged while speeding up the reaction.

This link will take you directly to the video.
http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/media/mrlincoln-lg.mov

This link will direct you to the page the video is on, scroll down to the bottom of the page and the video is called Mr. Lincoln Glows.
http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/video/index.html