Experiment: Corrosion Of Iron

Aim: To investigate the effect of salt concentration in water on the corrosion of iron
Hypothesis: The bright steel in the most concentrated solution of salt water will
corrode the fastest.

Apparatus:

4 bright steel nails

4 galvanised nails
8x plastic cups (same)
8x half a cup of water (118 ml)
2x metric tablespoon of table salt (15 g)
2x metric 2 tablespoon of table salt (30g)
2x metric 4 tablespoon of table salt (60g)
Spoon to mix the solution

Method:
1) In each plastic cup, a cup of water (118 ml) was poured in.
2) Groups of 3 bright steel nails were placed into 4 separate cups and 1 galvanised
steel nails were each placed into the remaining 4 cups.
3) Different amounts of salt were placed in different containers. Refer to table below to
observe the effect of the amount of salt to the results.
4) All cups were left in a room temperature environment and were observed.
5) Results were recorded every 4 hours for one day.

Results:
Type of Nail

No Salt

One
Tablespoon

2
Tablespoons

4
Tablespoons

Galvanised
Bright Steel

Discussion:
What is Rust ?
Rust is the by-product of the chemical reaction which occurs when a metal is exposed to air and
moisture. These reactions are referred to redox reactions where oxidation and reduction reactions
occur.
HALF EQUATIONS
(1)Oxidation Reaction
In the presence of water, the iron will lose electrons becoming a positively charged ion.
Fe (s) Fe2(aq) + 2e(2)Reduction Reaction

Then, the electrons are used to reduce the oxygen dissolved in the water. Therefore electrons are
gained in this process
O 2 + 4e- +4H 2H2O
(3)After, the iron is oxidized to give a hydrated form of iron (II) oxide
2Fe (s) +O2(aq) + 2H20(l) 2FeOH20(s)
(4)Finally, FeOH20 further oxidises by O2 dissolved in water to give a form of iron(III) oxide or
rust.
4FeO + O 2(aq) + 2H20(l) 2Fe2O3.3H20(s)
In steel and iron, rusting occurs when in contact with oxygen and water where salt and acid rain
are used as catalytic substances. Salt is an electrolyte. When salt is dissolved in water it forms an
electrolytic solution that conducts electricity. Hence helping the electrochemical cells to function
and increase the reaction rate.
Bright Steel Nails: No surface coating
Galvanised Nails: Nails covered with a protective layer of zinc
The covering of zinc on the nail serves as a sacrificial anode and due to zincs higher reactivity
rate, the coating will dissolve before the insides, therefore a galvinised nail can withstand longer
than a bright steel nail. Therefore the galvanised nails had less rust and took longer to start
forming the rust whilst the bright steel rusted quicker and had more rust. However the nails
submerged only in water had the slowest reaction due to no salt (catalyst).
Conclusion: