Letter 42001

Hydrochloric Acid and Sulfuric Acid  

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My name is Jacob and I am an eleventh student at Joppa High School and I am conducting an experiment which allows me to test which acid would corrode through a 10 cm thick bar of stainless steel. The two acids I am using are Hydrochloric and Sulfuric and I would actually like to know how long it takes for each of these acids to corrode through just 1 centimeter of stainless steel. Thanks for help!

Charles Jacob H.
Joppa High School - Metropolis, IL, United States

Probably the better part of the semester, Charles, although it actually depends on what type of stainless steel, what concentration of acid (you probably don't have access to highly concentrated acid in high school), what temperature, and how much acid you have. The stuff you see in movies, where a drop of acid burns a rapid deep hole in everything it touches, is, well, the stuff of movies. An acid dissolves metal via the metal taking the place of the hydrogen in the acid, so acid can only actually dissolve a little metal before all the hydrogen it gone and it is consumed. So a drop of the strongest acid can only make a nice dent or pit in a solid block of metal, it can't burn through 10 cm of it.

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

Dear Jacob,
Since you are conducting an experiment you would know anyway. let us know the results: which acid was better. while doing the experiment you should note down the parameters: the type of metal, initial thickness (you could weigh to three significant digits, thorough cleaning before pickling,(weigh it after yu have cleaned), type of acid, the strength of acid, temperature of the acid (Room temp if yu are not heating), time of pickling. weigh it after this. see the difference and yu have an answer.the parameters yu should keep the same are: type of metal, cleaning procedure, use the same balance preferably, same strengh of acid, same temperature.also same grade: if yu are using AR HCl then use AR H2So4. Good luck

Sonali Kokane
- Bombay, India

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