Group No: 7 Members:

Section: A02 Reyes Prince

EXPERIMENT 3: CORROSION OF METALS Resurreccion John Ezekiel A.
Date Performed: September 11, 2019 Ronquillo Alyssa Celine A.
Date Submitted: September 18, 2019 Salundaga Lian Justin M.
Sangab, Kim Z.

Results and Discussion

A. REACTION OF METALS WITH VARIOUS AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

Figure A.1 Figure A.2

Figure A.1 -A Reaction of iron metal to various solutions

Table 3.1. Observations on iron nails placed in different solutions.

Observatio
ns
Solutio
n Acidic/Basic/Neutra
Without K Fe(CN)
3 6 With K Fe(CN)
3 6 l

HCl The nail darkened Blue precipitate Acidic

formed
 NaOH No change happens The solution turned Basic
into light yellow

NaCl A dark yellow precipitate settled at No change at the Neutral

the bottom solution

Distilled A dark yellow precipitate settled No change Neutral

HO2 both at the bottom and in the nail

Control No change No change None

Based on observations, HCl and NaOH are the solutions where no indication of corrosion
was observed. Although the nail darkened in HCl, it can be concluded that it still does not indicate
corrosion. On the other hand, NaOH is totally ionic, containing sodium cations and hydroxide
anions. The hydroxide anion makes NaOH a solid base that response with acids. NaOH doesn't hit
iron since iron doesn't have amphoteric properties. Some transition metals, though, may respond
with sodium hydroxide in a strong manner. That is why the nail that is immersed in NaOH does
not have changes.
Water removes electrons from iron, leaving it positively charged. Oxygen then reacts to
the positively charged iron and creates ferrous oxide or rust. This describes the formation of dark
yellow precipitate that settled at the bottom. Likewise a dark yellow precipitate was also observed
from the solution with NaCl , since the presence of NaCl acts as a catalyst resulting in an increase
rate of reaction thus creating more metal oxide or rust . Moreover, it builds the conductivity of
water, successfully expanding the concentration in the water, thus increasing the pace of oxidation
of the metal. Distilled water absorbs gases in the atmosphere. When it happens, it is present in the
formation of rust, since it includes water, oxygen, and iron.

The solution of HCl and NaOH on which no changes was observed , changed its color upon
addition of K Fe(CN) since potassium ferrocyanide reacted with ferrous iron in acidic
3 6

solution(HCl) that produced insoluble blue pigment named Prussian blue. The deep blue color of
Prussian blue with potassium ferrocyanide is a test for the presence of iron (III) cation in a solution.

Table 3.1 Acidity test

Solutions Red litmus paper Blue Litmus paper Acidic/Basic/Neutral

 0.1 M HCl Remained red Turned to red Acidic

0.1 M NaOH Turned to blue Remained blue Basic

0.1 M NaCl Remained red Remained blue Neutral

d HO 2 Remained red Remained blue Neutral

When a red litmus paper remains red, it is neutral. Same to blue when it remains blue.
Furthermore, when a red litmus paper turns into blue, it is basic. A solution is acidic when a blue
litmus paper turns into red.

Table 3.2. Observations on the reaction between FeS04 and K3Fe(CN)6

FeS04 + K3Fe(CN)6 Formation of greenish-blue precipitate

Comparing the results from Table 3.2. to that of the results from Table 3.1 when K3Fe(CN)6 was
added to the various solutions containing nails, the only solution that showed the reaction between
FeS04 and K3Fe(CN)6 is the HCl solution. The presence of ferrous ions is proved by formation of
greenish-blue precipitate when K3Fe(CN)6 was added to the solution. It can then be concluded that
out of the 4 solutions, only the HCl solution was able to produce ferrous ions.
Ferrous ions react with K3Fe(CN)6 to form a colored precipitate. The chemical reaction involved
is Fe2+ + K3Fe(CN)6 → Formation of greenish-blue precipitate

B. Reactions of metals as influenced by mechanical stress

Observations
Part
Straight nail Bent nail
Head Bluish green precipitate and rust minimal amount of bluish green
settled precipitate and rust
Pointed end Bluish green precipitate and rust minimal amount of bluish green
settled precipitate and rust
 Bent Portion none covered with bluish green precipitate
and rust
Body of the Nail some of the parts are covered Pink coloration formed at the bottom
with pink coloration part of the nail
Table 3.3 Effect of mechanical stress on the corrosion of iron nails.

Figure B.1 Corrosion of iron nails on Bent and Straight Nail(right)

Based on the corrosion test performed upon the addition of agar. It can be summarized that
the oxidation of iron occurred on the head and the tip of the nail. The evidence for this is the
location of bluish green area in the gel where Fe 2+ ions were produced (Figure B.1) . Oxidation
originates at points on the nail that have been “stressed” or bent .
Moreover, bending the nail changed the location at which oxidation originated .The bent
portion of the bent nail was covered with bluish green precipitate and rust indicating that the
corrosion occurred on where the state of the material is at the highest energy. The head and the tip
of the nail were surrounded by pink areas in the gel, indicating the presence of OH– ions on which
reduction has occured.

C. Reactions of Iron Involving Two Metals in Contact

Table 3.4 Effect of metals in contact on the corrosion of iron nails.
Set-up Observations

Fe with Cu Bluish green precipitate and rust formed on the nail

 Fe with Zn A white precipitate formed; pink coloration on the head and
pointed end

The reactions of iron involving copper and zinc metal in contact with nails were observed
on the last part of the experiment. The said observation was done to determine the capabilities of
these metals to prevent iron nails from rusting.

Iron is more easily oxidized than copper since it has a lower (more negative) reduction
potential. As observed in the experiment, there are bluish-green precipitates formed on the head,
the body, and the pointed end of the nail. Theoretically, this blue color indicates the site of
oxidation reaction. Therefore, oxidation has occurred at iron metal where iron is oxidized to Fe2+
ions. On the other hand, phenolphthalein turns pink in the presence of OH- ions. Thus, pink appears
where the reduction reaction occurs. Since copper has a higher (more positive) reduction potential,
it is less reactive. Electrons from the iron (oxidation site) flow towards the copper strip (reduction
site), speeding up the corrosion process. The reaction formula is shown below:

𝑂𝑥𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛: 𝐹𝑒 → 𝐹𝑒 2+ + 2𝑒 −

𝑅𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛: 𝑂2 + 2𝐻2 𝑂 + 4𝑒 − → 4𝑂𝐻 −

Where, Fe is the oxidation reaction site; hence act as the anode. And Cu is the reduction reaction
site; hence act as the cathode.

Moreover, zinc is more difficult to reduce than iron because it has a lower (more negative)
reduction potential. And since it has a lower reduction potential, it is a more active metal than iron.
In this case, a more reactive metal is known to be easily oxidized or readily lose electrons. Thus,
zinc metal is then oxidized rather than iron. In the experiment, the formation of a white precipitate
at the area of the nail where the zinc strip is coiled was observed. This white coloration indicates
the presence of Zn2+ ions; which shows that oxidation has occurred at zinc metal. Therefore, zinc
is the oxidation reaction site and the one which will undergo corrosion. Meanwhile, the presence
of pink coloration on the head and the pointed end of the nail was observed. The phenolphthalein
turned pink is an indication that there are OH- ions present in the regions. That being so, reduction
reaction has occurred at the iron metal. The reaction formula is given by:
 𝑂𝑥𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛: 𝑍𝑛 → 𝑍𝑛2+ + 2𝑒 −

𝑅𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛: 𝑂2 + 2𝐻2 𝑂 + 4𝑒 − → 4𝑂𝐻 − Where, Zn is the oxidation reaction site; hence

act as the anode. And Fe is the reduction reaction site; hence act as the cathode.

Conclusion

The objective of this experiment is to determine various corrosion trends. In this

experiment corrosion rates was identified based on the aqueous solutions on which the metals are
sank in, the effect of mechanical stress and the effect of other metals in contact on the iron nails.

In the first part of the experiment highest corrosion rate was observed on the NaCl solution
since NaCl served as a catalyst that speeds up the formation of rust from the reaction of iron ,
water, and oxygen. Moreover, no corrosion was observed on both NaOH and HCl . In NaOH,
solution, the nail did not inhibit corrosion since it only turned out to be a base solution.

The only difference that the reaction between the straight nail and bent nail was the location
of oxidation reaction to simplify the mechanical stress in Fe indicates that the bent nail has more
corrosion than the unbent nail. Iron having a negative reduction potential is easier to oxidized

On the third part of the experiment between copper and iron, corrosion has occurred on
the iron since it has negative reduction potential making it to be easily oxidized making the copper
ions to be less reactive. On the other hand between iron and zinc, Zinc has the lower reduction
potential making it easier to be oxidized. This conclusion was supported by the formation of white
precipitate that tells that Zinc ions was formed form oxidation

References:
Lohninger, H. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.vias.org/genchem/inorgcomp_sodiumhydroxide.html?fbclid=IwAR1TuW2DYog0Y
uO3vPoSfyWXDrCMHLxf5nhr1Wt4cuJvLOKpxond6LeTy6

Birk M. 2019 retrieved from

https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Analytical_Chemistry/Supplemental_Modules_(Analytical_Che
mistry)/Qualitative_Analysis/Characteristic_Reactions_of_Select_Metal_Ions/Characteristic_Reactions_o
f_Iron__(Fe%C2%B3%E2%81%BA)

Thomas, Stoebe University of Washington Seattle, WA retrieved from

http://www.materialseducation.org/educators/matedu-modules/docs/Metal_Corrosion.pdf