No, they're not gold. I like to introduce the idea of alloys by creating brass with a copper/zinc mixture. I like this demonstration, because I pose the question to my students about whether or not I should be able to create gold.
Some of them think I can because I'm Mr. Science Man with the fancy chemicals and devices. Some of them figure out that if I could turn pennies to gold, then I would probably be doing that instead of teaching. In the end, I explain that we mixed two metals together and they each get a shiny "gold" penny as a souvenir.
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