Nespelem School
P O Box 291
Nespelem, WA 99155
Sheri Edwards
My topic is on Rust Oxidation.
Research question: What effect do different oxide agents have on the speed of rustation &endash;or oxidation? Hypothethis: The acid will oxidize more by the different type of chemicals in the liquid probably.
I gathered 15 of the same type of jars, and 15 of the same type of nails. I got some bleach, vinegar, and water. I put 100 ml of each liquid into jars, three different jars for each liquid. I mixed the bleach and vinegar together in 3 jars (50 ml each liquid for a total of 100 ml in each jar). After that I had a graph that I made on the computer and checked every 20 minutes for about 5 days to see which liquid chemical could rust or oxidize the iron nail first. In the procedure I had to wear rubber gloves, and goggles to protect myself from these chemicals.
The data I collected help prove which one rusted faster and it was the bleach that oxidized the iron nail first. Every time I checked the jars the water and vinegar would be the same. It took about 4 days for them to even get a little bit of rust on them. But the vinegar and bleach started to rust after about a day and a half. It took the bleach exactly 2 days to rust; it dissolved the iron nail into a bunch of powdery rust. The bleach must have won because it had a better union of oxygen with the iron so it corroded faster. The bleach formed iron oxide with made the nail weak.
My data was on the mark. Everything went by smoothly. I got every thing that I needed done. My data showed me that the bleach's chemicals would rust iron faster than water and vinegar. But now I wonder why the vinegar and bleach did not rust faster than just the bleach. It seems like their chemicals together would have rusted the nail faster. Next time I'm going to try different chemicals to see if they could rust the iron nail faster then the bleach.
This applies to the real world in a big way, because I now know that I don't want to put my bleach next to anything metal or iron. And people should keep all their liquid chemicals away from anything iron or metal also, keep them away from damp or wet areas. I used this experiment to help me stop wondering about how iron or metals rust because I never knew how they rusted. People should try to make some liquid acids to see what kind of acid could dissolve the nail faster.