Problem/Purpose-
Why did the pennies' weight change over time?
Hypothesis-
I think the U.S. Mint changed the material which the penny was made off. If the penny changed then it will become lighter.
Procedure-
Everybody got about fifteen pennies and found out how much they weighed. When everyone was done weighing them we all shouted out certain weights for certain years. We then averaged that amount and put the average on the black board. Everyone copied this data from the board. We then came to the computer lab and did our data table and graph on Excel and did this lab report.
Data Table-
|
Year
|
Grams
|
Year
|
Grams
|
Year
|
Grams
|
Year
|
Grams
|
Year
|
Grams
|
|
2005
|
2.5
|
1995
|
2.5
|
1985
|
2.53
|
1975
|
3.09
|
1965
|
3.1
|
|
2004
|
2.52
|
1994
|
2.5
|
1984
|
2.52
|
1974
|
3.12
|
1964
|
3.12
|
|
2003
|
2.5
|
1993
|
2.54
|
1983
|
2.52
|
1973
|
3.13
|
1963
|
3.16
|
|
2002
|
2.5
|
1992
|
2.55
|
1982
|
3.11
|
1972
|
3.11
|
1962
|
3.15
|
|
2001
|
2.49
|
1991
|
2.52
|
1981
|
3.09
|
1971
|
3.09
|
1961
|
3.04
|
|
2000
|
2.5
|
1990
|
2.5
|
1980
|
3.08
|
1970
|
3.09
|
1960
|
3.05
|
|
1999
|
2.5
|
1989
|
2.47
|
1979
|
3.11
|
1969
|
3.11
|
1959
|
3.05
|
|
1998
|
2.5
|
1988
|
2.5
|
1978
|
3.06
|
1968
|
3.16
|
|
|
|
1997
|
2.52
|
1987
|
2.5
|
1977
|
3.05
|
1967
|
3.09
|
|
|
|
1996
|
2.5
|
1986
|
2.52
|
1976
|
3.08
|
1966
|
3.14
|
|
|
Analysis Questions-
Conclusion-
We found out that the penny changed from primarily copper to primarily zinc. We also found out that it changed after year 1982. So the new penny first came out in 1983. While researching I also found out that the Mint is now losing money by making the penny. About two years ago this changed. It used to be that making it would be less than it was worth so they were making money. But now they are losing some money every time they make a penny. But that doesn't really matter because they are making money on everything else they make. Mostly that $100 bill!
