Will Certain

Household Items

Prevent Rusting?

Acknowledgement

Question:

Will certain household items prevent rusting?

Hypothesis:

My hypothesis is that the following materials will prevent the process of rusting. The materials are dish washing liquid, Vaseline, and paint (Rustolium.)

I think Vaseline will prevent rusting the most, then paint, and finally dish washing liquid.

Background

Iron is a silvery white solid metal. It appears in-group VII of the

periodic table as a transition element. Its atomic number is 26, and its

atomic weight is 55.847. Its chemical symbol, Fe, is retrieved from ferrum,

the Latin word for iron. In its various compounds, iron is the fourth most

abundant element in the Earth's crust. Iron is soft and malleable and ductile

at room temperature. It melts at 1,535 degrees Celsius and boils at 3,000

degrees Celsius. Pure iron can exist in two structural types, or allotropic

forms. They are a-form and gamma-form.

Corrosion is the natural deterioration or destruction of a material as a

result of its interaction with the environment. The term is applied mostly to

metals and particularly to their reaction with oxygen, or rusting. The cost of

replacing corroded equipment and protecting existing structures exceeds $10

billion dollars each year in the United States. Corrosion of metals is

generally confined to the surface. The most common means of thwarting

corrosion is to apply a resistant surface coating or lining. Paint, plastic,

rubber, and ceramics are commonly used, and metals are often plated with a

more resistant metal such as nickel or chromium. Iron is easily oxidized and

it reacts directly with most common nonmetallic elements. The most

important chemical reaction of iron is corrosion. When corrosion occurs,

water and oxygen interacts with iron and creates iron oxide or rust. The

corrosion of iron has been studied very carefully. The formation of rust is

known to be a electrochemical reaction. In order for rust to form at room

temperature , three compounds in addition to iron must be present: oxygen,

water, and electrolyte. Iron that is partially immersed in salt or freshwater

usually rusts more quickly than does iron that is totally immersed.

Formation of rust begins when the relative humanity exceeds 50%. The

presence of air pollutants, particularly the oxides of sulfur, increases the

the rate in which rust forms. The formation of rust may be inhibited by

using a certain oxide protective coating.

Mineral, a household item, is a clear, colorless liquid, without order

or taste, that is used medicinally as a lubricant and laxative, as an oil base in

cosmetics, and as an ingredient of paints and varnishes. It is also called

liquid petrolatum or petroleum jelly, used in ointments and dressings.

Another household item that I used in my project was paint. The

chemicals in this rust resistant paint were toluene and xylene.

They are petrochemicals produced from natural gas liquids, or refinery

products derived from crude oil distillation, or cracking. First stage

petrochemicals, including ethylene, propylene, butylenes, benzene,

toluene, and xylenes are produced as a starting point for a number of

secondary petrochemicals that are transformed into a variety of

petrochemicals and products. These are some of the products: Plastics,

Solvent, Synthetic Fibers, Elastormers, and other essential commodities.

Some of the products referred to as petrochemical were in the past

produced from charcoal, coal-tar distillation by products, Acetylene, or

fermentation alcohol. The growth of refining industry is the United States,

based on abundant petroleum and natural gas resources as well as on the

development of advanced thermal and catalytic oil-cracking processes,

created the conditions for the present petrochemical industry.

Oxygen is the most abundant element on Earth. Oxygen is practically

in everything form animals to plants to humans. Oxygen is also found in

minerals such as diamonds and gems, rocks, and a lot of other things. The

atomic number of oxygen is 2 its atomic mass number is 15.9994.

Oxygen's chemical symbol is O.

Glossary of Terms

1. Corrosion-to eat into or wear away slowly, as by the action of acid and rust.

 

2. Oxidation-the act of oxidating or the condition of being oxidized.

 

3. Transition element-a element that is neither a metal or non-metal, but has characteristics of both.

 

4. Malleable- means it can be pounded into a sheet.

 

5. Ductile-means that it can be put into a wire.

 

6. Iron Oxide- means rust.

 

7. Electrolyte-any dissolved compound that can carry an electric current and can be broken up into its parts by the current.

Materials

1. Dish washing liquid, Vaseline, and Paint (Rustoleum.)

 

2. Iron nails.

 

3. Three cups.

 

4. Flat surface.

 

5. 3 cups of water.

 

6. Q-tip.

 

7. Gloves

Experimental Procedure

1. Gather all of the material: Vaseline, paint, dish washing liquid, three nails, and three cups of clean water.

 

2. Carefully situate each cup on a flat surface.

 

3. Place an iron nail in each of the cups.

 

4. Coat each nail with the Vaseline, paint, and dish washing liquid with a Q-tip.

 

5. Fill each cup with water just a little more than half way.

 

6. Place the coated nails into the water.

 

7. Let the nails sit there for about six weeks.

 

8. Record observations and Results every day for the six weeks

Observations

Vaseline Paint washing liquid Sunday No change no change No change

Feb 8

Sunday No change Paint started Nail began to

Feb 15 to wear off tarnish.

Sunday No change started to the nail began to

Feb22 at all tarnish a little rust

Sunday No change Began to rust more rust starts

Mar 1 at all to form

Sunday the tips of Water changed the rust became

Mar 8 nail began to another color more visible

to rust and more rust

Sunday Not much Not much of Not much of a

Mar 15 of a change a change change

Conclusion

My conclusion is that the Vaseline is the technology that prevented

the rusting the most, then the paint, and finally the dish washing liquid. The

reason why I think the Vaseline corroded the least of all the substances, is

because of its thick coating made of mineral oil. Mineral oil is also used in

car's engines to prevent rusting in the engine. It is used in a form called oil.

Usually people don't coat things with Vaseline naturally, but the mineral oil

inside of the Vaseline is what makes it important.

Bibliography

Anderson, Jan. Science and Technology. New York: 1993

Grolier Educational Corporation.

Knapp, Brian. Grolier Educational. Atlanta: 1996

Atlantic European Publishing. Pg. 30-31.

Knapp, Brian. Iron. Atlanta: 1996

Atlantic European Publishing. Pg., 8-9

Lee, Gary. King Fisher Science. New York: 1991

Scholastic Publisher. Pg. 156-157