This presentation file has been prepared as a project

work assigned to me. I have taken care to collect all the

available information about the topic from different
books and internet. I am grateful to my chemistry
teacher Mrs. Poonam for her guidance and support. I
would thank my parents for helping me in different
ways and for the financial help provided to me. I am
deeply indebted to them. I wish to acknowledge my
sincere thanks to all of them for their ideas which
helped me in making the project. At last but not least I
wish to thank all the writers and publishers of different
books.
This project basically deals with the
phenomenon of rusting and the measure to stop
rusting.
Metals and alloy undergo rusting
and corrosion. The process by which a metal
when exposed to atmospheric condition such as
moist air, carbon dioxide from undesirable
compounds on the surface is known as
corrosion. Rusting is also a type of corrosion but
it is restricted to iron and for the product made
from it. Iron is easily prone to rusting on making
its surface rough. To avoid rusting of iron certain
precautionary steps are taken. Most effective of
which is metal coupling. If an iron is coupled
with more electropositive metal like zinc,
The actual mechanism involved in rusting is a
complicated process which is not fully
understood. The best which explains this
process is Electrochemical Theory of Rusting.
According to which the process of rusting is
more common when the surface of metal is
uneven. It suggest that the uneven surface of
iron behaves as small electrochemical cells in
the presence of water which contains
dissolved oxygen or carbon dioxide. This
water serves as an electrolyte. The reaction
taking place may be summed as follow:-
Covered area of the metal behaves as an
anode where iron atoms lose electrons
and go in to solution of Fe2+ ions.

Fe Fe2+ + 2e-

Due to the accumulation of these

electrons, the rest of the metal behaves
as cathode by acquiring a negative
charge. Also if other electropositive
metals like copper are present they also
serves as cathode.
The hydrogen ion formed by slight ionization of
water or acidic substances in water are reduced.
H2CO3 HCO3- + H+
H2O H+ + OH-
H+ + e- H
These hydrogen do not combine with each other
because they is no evidence of formation of
molecular hydrogen. Therefore hydrogen atom
reduce the dissolved oxygen as
4H + O2 2H2O
2Fe + 4H+ + O2 2Fe+ + 2H2O
The Fe2+ ions formed above further react with
oxygen to form rust and H+ ions, so that
the process in step (ii) is continued
onwards.
4Fe2+ + O2 + 4H2O 2Fe2O3 + 8H+
Fe2O3 + x H2O Fe2O3. x H2O
( Rust)
The hydrated ferric oxide once formed acts as
a catalyst for further oxidation of the fresh
metal.
 4H+ + O2 + 4e- 2H2O
O2 + Fe 3+

Fe2O3.xH2O Fe2+
Fe2+
+ 2e-
Fe 2e-

Anode Flow of
electrons

Iron
This is one of the simplest methods to prevent rusting
of iron. In this method a barrier is placed between
the iron and atmospheric air. The barrier protection
can be achieved by any of the following:-
i) this surface is coated with paint or some chemicals
like bisphenol.
ii) the surface is protected by applying a thin film of
oil or grease.
iii) The metal is electroplated with metals like tin,
nickel, zinc, chromium, aluminium, etc.
for example many vehicles such as cycles, motors,
cars made from iron sheets are protected from
rusting by paints.
In this method iron is protected from rusting by covering
it with a layer of metal more active than iron. This
prevents loss of electrons from iron. The active metal
loses electrons in preference to iron and goes into
ionic state. Therefore, the covering metal is consumed
with time, but as long as it is present in the surface of
iron, the latter is not rusted. This type of process in
which rusting of iron is protected is called sacrificial
protection.
Zinc is commonly used for covering iron
surfaces. The process of covering iron with zinc is
called galvanization. The galvanized iron materials
maintain their luster due to coating of invisible layer of
basic zinc carbonate ZnCO3.Zn(OH) 2 on the zinc film.
This method is used for protecting iron articles which are
in contact with water such as underground water pipes.
The articles of iron is connected with more active
metals like magnesium or zinc. The active metals are
lower reduction potential than iron and will lose
electrons in preference to iron. For example,
magnesium has lower reduction potential than iron.
Mg2+ (aq) + 2e- Mg (s) E = -2.37
V
Fe2+ (aq) + 2e- Fe (s) E=
-0.44 V
Therefore, magnesium will be oxidised in preference to
iron and therefore, it will protect iron from being rusted.
 Clean the surface of iron nails with sand paper.
 Wined a clean zinc strip around one nail, a clean
copper strip around the second and a clean
magnesium strip around the third. Keep the
fourth one unwind.
 Put all four of them in beaker containing water.
 Keep the beaker undisturbed for one week or so.
 Observe them regularly and take reading after
two weeks.
S.N Metal Observa
o. Pair tions
1. Iron - zinc No rust

2. Iron - magnesium No rust

3. Iron - Copper Slightly rust

4. Iron nail Rust