Temperature, Acids, and Rusting Rates: Which Is More Prevalent?

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective of this experiment is to test the effect of temperature on the rusting rate of steel and iron, versus the effect of acid on the rusting rate of these two metals. Methods/Materials The steel nails and iron bolts were weighed before and after the temperature and acid trials, with the rusting rate being calculated by the percent differences of the before and after weights. Three different temperatures were tested, along with two different acids, citric and acetic. Results The hypothesis was that the effect of temperature on the rusting rate would be at least 95% higher than the effect of the acid. The results proved that half of the hypothesis was wrong, for the part that states that the effect of temperature on the rusting rate would be at least 95% higher than the effect of the acid was off; for example, in the sample I+A, Ht, the percentage loss was 2.82, while in sample I+A, Rm, the percentage loss was 0.17. This compares iron in acetic acid, but in different temperatures. Conclusions/Discussion Some patterns that were seen in the results of the experiment were that in all the trials, the iron samples that were in the control group that were put in the cold condition had the same percentage loss as the iron samples in the control group but in the room temperature condition.

Competition history

• CSEF 2013 Chemistry · Entry J0609

Resources

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