Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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8th Grade Project on Oxidation of Brass

I'm doing a science project on how salt water effects the oxidizing of brass. It would be useful if you could give me some tips on what to do or an answer and an explanation.

Nicholas R.
8th Grade student - San Diego, California, United States of America
2003

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Please don't look for an answer or explanation until you've at least done an experiment, Nicholas.

The other path -- deciding what you want to observe or what you think you'll observe -- will lead to you ignoring contradictory data and only seeing what you wanted to see or expected to see. That's what we call 'junk science' and it's what politicians and demagogues do; it's not what scientists do.

Start by finding a piece of brass and doing some repeatable thing to it . . . immersing it in salt water, or partially immersing it in salt water, or leaving it in the sun but spritzing it twice a day with salt water. Keep notes of what you see as you see it, and use ink (not pencil) so you aren't tempted to erase an observation. After a week or two write yourself an hypothesis, and then confirm the hypothesis by researching the literature and finally repeating the experiment. Good luck.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey