Why tamarind juice or solution is used to clean utensils of copper.
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In many copper vessels after prolonged use, there is a layer formed due to corrosion reaction which is basic in nature which gets dissolved in the lemon or tamarind juice as it is acidic in nature. Thus the vessel get sparklingly cleaned.
The acidic nature of the substance removes the oxidation/tarnish or Citric acid which is present in lemon or tamarind, and acids "clean" copper, by dissolving this copper oxide tarnish. The tarnish dissolves into the acid and is washed away, exposing the "clean" non oxidized metal lying under it. the reaction is roughly:
Acid + copper oxide --> copper salt + water
balancing the equation before proceeding:
2 acid + 1 copper oxide --> 1 copper salt + 1 water
2 H+ [citrate anion]-- + Cu++ O-- --> Cu++[citrate anion]-- + H20
Acid has a 'sour' taste. So whichever fruit tastes the most sour may do the best job of cleaning in the exterior of the copper.
The acidic nature of the substance removes the oxidation/tarnish or Citric acid which is present in lemon or tamarind, and acids "clean" copper, by dissolving this copper oxide tarnish. The tarnish dissolves into the acid and is washed away, exposing the "clean" non oxidized metal lying under it. the reaction is roughly:
Acid + copper oxide --> copper salt + water
balancing the equation before proceeding:
2 acid + 1 copper oxide --> 1 copper salt + 1 water
2 H+ [citrate anion]-- + Cu++ O-- --> Cu++[citrate anion]-- + H20
Acid has a 'sour' taste. So whichever fruit tastes the most sour may do the best job of cleaning in the exterior of the copper.
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