The statue of liberty hasn't always been green. A series of chemical reactions and air pollution have caused it to lose its original color, a brilliant copper. The transformations are the subject of an interesting video produced by the American Chemical Society
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himThe statue of liberty hasn't always been green. A series of chemical reactions and air pollution they made it lose its original color, a bright copper. The transformations are the subject of an interesting video produced by American Chemical Society.
The Statue of Liberty: one of the best known monuments in the world
The symbol of New York it needs no introduction. The Statue of Liberty is a gift from France to the USA, inaugurated in 1886 and since then visible tens of kilometers away thanks to its 93 meters high (granite base included). It was the one who designed it Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi together with Gustave Eiffel, who took care of the interiors. The statue possesses an internal steel structure, while the exterior is lined with 300 copper sheets shaped and riveted together. The copper that makes up the surface of the monument was the subject of the transformation analyzed in the video in question.
The changes in the Statue of Liberty over time
According to official information from the National Park Service, the statue is covered with 30 tons of copper. In his first decades of stay in the US, the slow transformations began: the copper was starting to turn brown, then slowly blue-green, until it takes on that color we are used to today. But it was not a transformation that went unnoticed, quite the contrary. Authorities confronted the issue, some officials tried to suggest restoring the old color, but people protested and eventually the statue remained as we see it today.
Chemical reactions up to green
At the base of the transformations, the oxidation process of copper exposed to air. But the reactions have followed over time, the current color is the product of 30 years of different reactions which led to a mix of minerals with a prevalence of green color. The reactions occur when an atom gives an electron to another atom, in the case of the Statue of Liberty the color has changed because the oxygen in the atmosphere is "greedy" for electrons.
To this is added theeffect of air pollution. Technically, we have to talk about "cuprite", the copper oxide, which has a red color and which loses other electrons forming a new blackish mineral, the tenors. This explains why the statue took on this further shade. Other chemical reactions then occur when the sulfur in the atmosphere reacts with water. Green minerals are formed. Not to mention the chlorine that diffuses from the sea around the Ellis Island area. Also in this case the green color is accentuated.
Air pollution has turned the Statue of Liberty green: here are some solutions to reduce it
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Elsewhere the Statue of Liberty would not be the same color
The color generated by these continuous reactions would be different if the statue were not in New York. It is the particular result of elements and processes that took place in that area. The fact that the current color has remained the same for over 100 years is due to the fact that oxidized copper is now stable.
Anna Tita Gallo
