Prepared by :

CHIAM SING CHIK

ELIZABETH TEE
THE CORROSION OF METAL
 W h a t is CORROSION ?
Corrosion is a natural process, which
converts a refined metal to a more stable
form, such as its oxide, hydroxide, or
sulphide.
 INTRODUCTION
Rusting is a well known
Electrochemical experiment of
oxidation of metal electrochemical
corrosion.

Produce oxide or salt

LITERATURE REVIEW
A Roman philosopher, Pliny
wrote about the destruction of iron in his
essay ‘Ferrum Corrumpitar.’
Herodotus was a Greek historian
suggested the use of tin for protection
of iron.

Louis Jacques Thenard was a French

chemist suggested that corrosion is an
electrochemical phenomenon.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
What is the effect when other metal
in contact with iron?

How to prevent iron from rusting?

 OBJECTIVE
To determine which type of metal can use to
prevent corrosion of iron through cathodic
protection.

To find out which kind of metal can

coat on iron to prevent rusting.
 METHODOLOGY
Apparatus and Materials
Distilled water Test tube rack Aluminium strip
Agar solution Test tubes Copper strip
(gelatin)
Test tube holder Nickel strip
Potassium
Sandpaper Zinc strip
hexacyanoferrate
(III) solution Iron nails
Phenolphthalein Magnesium
indicator ribbon
 PROCEDURE

6 iron nails, magnesium

ribbon, aluminium strip,
copper strip, nickel strip
and zinc strip were
cleaned by using
sandpaper.
Coil the
iron nail
with metal
strip.
Label each test
tube with its
respective
metal.
Fill the test tubes with the mixture.
 OBSERVATION
Observation

Intensity
Pair of
of the Intensity
metals Gas
colour of of pink
bubbles
dark blue colour
spot

Iron nail
Low None None
only
 Observation

Pair of Intensity
metals of the Intensity
Gas
colour of of pink
bubbles
dark blue colour
spot
Iron nail
and
None High A lot
magnesium
ribbon
 Observation

Pair of
Intensity
metals
of the Intensity
Gas
colour of of pink
bubbles
dark colour
blue spot
Iron nail
and
High Low A little
copper
strip
 Observation

Pair of
Intensity
metals
of the Intensity
Gas
colour of of pink
bubbles
dark blue colour
spot

Iron nail
and zinc None High A lot
strip
 Observation

Intensity
Pair of of the Intensity
metals Gas
colour of of pink
bubbles
dark blue colour
spot

Iron nail
and
High Low A little
nickel
strip
 Observation

Pair of
Intensity
metals
of the Intensity
Gas
colour of of pink
bubbles
dark blue colour
spot
Iron nail
and
None High A lot
aluminium
strip
 DISCUSSION
• There is no intensity of the colour of dark blue
spot in the test tubes of iron nail coiled with
magnesium ribbon, zinc strip and aluminium strip.
• There is high intensity of the colour of dark
spot in both iron nail coiled with nickel strip and
iron nail coiled with copper strip
• Phenolphthalein is slightly soluble in water. It
is weak acid, which can lose H+ ions in solution.
• There is high intensity of the pink colour in the test
tube of irons nail coiled with magnesium ribbon, iron nail
coiled with zinc strip and iron nail coil with aluminium
strip but there is no pink colour for iron nail coiled with
copper strip and iron nail coiled with nickel strip.
• This shows that the aluminium, magnesium and zinc
(which they corroded first) is stronger reducing agent
than iron.
• Strong reducing agent reduced H+ ions to H2 - lot of
gas bubbled.
• Copper and nickel are weaker reducing agent than iron -
is less gas bubbled.
 CONCLUSION
Rusting slow down if come in contact with metal that
is stronger reducing agent than it.
Rusting will accelerate if iron come in contact with
metal that is weaker reducing agent than it.
Suitable metal for cathodic protection in this
experiment are magnesium, aluminium and zinc.
Suitable metal for coating on iron in this experiment
are copper and nickel.