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5.4 Corrosion and Rusting 5.4 Corrosion and Rusting

Corrosion is a reaction where metals slowly form compounds with oxygen in the air. Rusting refers specifically to the corrosion of iron and steel into hydrated iron oxide when exposed to both air and water. Tests showed that rusting only occurs in the presence of both air and water, and is sped up by salt or acid. Stainless steel resists rusting due to a thin chromium oxide layer forming on its surface that keeps out air and water.

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73 views2 pages

5.4 Corrosion and Rusting 5.4 Corrosion and Rusting

Corrosion is a reaction where metals slowly form compounds with oxygen in the air. Rusting refers specifically to the corrosion of iron and steel into hydrated iron oxide when exposed to both air and water. Tests showed that rusting only occurs in the presence of both air and water, and is sped up by salt or acid. Stainless steel resists rusting due to a thin chromium oxide layer forming on its surface that keeps out air and water.

Uploaded by

Medo O. Ezzat
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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5.

4 Corrosion and rusting

CORROSION

Most metals form a dull surface


coating when exposed to air.
The coating is produced as
the metal reacts and forms a compound

magnesium + oxygen --> magnesium oxide


aluminium + oxygen --> aluminium oxide
Corrosion is generally a slow reaction
the more reactive metals
tend to corrode faster.
gold and platinum, do not
corrode at all.

Rusting
special name given to the corrosion of iron and steel.
iron + oxygen + water ---> hydrated iron oxide (rust)
Rust is actually hydrated iron oxide
Both air and water need to be present for iron to rust.
The presence of salt or acid speeds up the rusting of iron.

how rusting occurs in different situations

Tanks left in the desert since the end of the Second World War
show hardly any signs of rust

because the desert atmosphere contains little or no water.

Ships that have sunk in deep areas of the oceans hardly rust at all,

because there is very little air dissolved in the water of the deepest
parts of the ocean.

Iron and steel structures built in or near to the sea rust very
quickly.

This is due to the salt dissolved in the sea water, which


speeds up rusting.

Cars and other iron objects corrode more in areas

where you get acid rain.

Iron is relatively abundant and cheap and when made into steel can
be made to have a variety of useful properties
Iron and steel are the most widely used metals in the world
Iron and steel usually rust when exposed to air and water.

Stainless steel contains


iron, nickel and chromium.
This alloy does not rust because it forms a
surface layer of chromium oxide.
This very thin oxide layer is strong
and keeps out air and water.
(The oxide layer is less than
0.000 000 01 m thick.)
Investigating rusting.

OBSERVATION --->

METHODE
CONCLUSION
Five identical iron nails were placed in test tubes Both air and water need to be present for iron to rust.
The test tubes were left for a few days and then The presence of salt or acid speeds up the rusting of iron.
examined for thepresence of rust.
The results of the investigation were recorded
below each test tube.

The rusting of iron.


CONCLUSION --->

We can show that iron combines with


the oxygen in air during rusting

METHOD OBSERVATION
setting up the simple experiment shown

After a few days, the steel wool has rusted,


and the water in the test tube rises about one-fifth.
This means that one-fifth of the air has been used.
OBSERVATION ---> Since about one-fifth (20%) of the air is oxygen,
it is reasonable to assume that the iron has
combined with the oxygen during rusting.

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