Many versions of the classic Ira Remsen experience involving copper and concentrated nitric acid have been used as lecture demonstrations. Remsen's original reminiscence from 150 years ago is included in the Supporting Information, and his biography can be found on the Internet. This article presents a new version that makes the demonstration more visible and dramatic and also extends the chemistry involved. In most educational settings, this demonstration must be done in a hood to prevent the NO[subscript 2] from posing a danger to the audience, but a hood does not allow for a large group to view the demonstration adequately. This version enables a large group to see the reactions in detail. It also expands the experience to include additional reactions that form colorful copper complex ions. This provides an excellent beginning chemistry activity that will excite students and capture their attention. The demonstration shows visually what is meant when chemistry is defined as the study of matter and how one form of matter interacts with another. (Contains 2 tables and 5 figures.)