Metal finishing Q&As since 1989
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Nails rusting science project
Q. I did a science fair experiment on which liquid rusts a nail the fastest. Tap water rusted the most and I was wondering why. I used a steel non-galvanized nail. What causes the rust and why does only water do the most?
Michael R [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]- Lexington, Kentucky
January 8, 2010
A. Hi, Michael.
You didn't say what the other liquids were, so nobody can answer your question :-(
But the general question was already addressed on this page; please try your best to phrase your question in terms of what you did not understand rather than running in circles by repeating already answered questions. Thanks.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 8, 2010
Q. I have to make a graph for my science experiment, but I really don't know how. I can ask my teacher that, but I don't understand. I put one nail in tap water, another in coca cola, and another in Apple Juice. The thing is, that the nail in the coca cola rusted, but the nail in the apple juice turned black. Why is that? I know there is a different acid in apple juice, but what are the different chemicals that make the iron nail black?
blair p [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]student - kitchener, Ontario, Canada
January 18, 2010
Q. Hi, I am helping my son with his science fair project on rusting nails, and as I see there is an awful lot on this topic and a lot of ways to do it. we did it two ways
1. was with nails that were supposedly rust proof. and
2. with just regular nails that we used sandpaper on.
We put them separately into 5 different liquids , leaving half of the nail out of the liquid and half in. What we found on the first day was that bleach [adv: bleach/sodium hypochlorite in bulk on eBay or Amazon] rusted it right away. Our question is why? and also it is now the 3rd day and it also looks like some type of metal is growing or silver or something silvery looking on the nail. What could that be? Oh and both the nails rusted right away even the rust resistant in the bleach. Also, we used tap water, melted snow, Gatorade, orange juice and soda (Coke). We noted that one of the nails that was in the Gatorade rusted, but only the part that was above the liquid not the part in it. Is there something in the gatorade that stops it from rusting? If we covered the cups the nails were in would that cause a different reaction? Does the temperature have an effect on rust? any help would be appreciated. Oh by the way my son is in 3rd grade this is his first science project. so I really want him to get into it. thanks.
Tammy S [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]- Brooklyn, New York
February 10, 2010
February 16, 2010
A. Hi, Tammy.
Your son could browse the page even if parts of it are beyond him, because it already explains why bleach is so corrosive. He should not ask whether temperature has an effect unless/until he has done an experiment with different temperatures and made observations; nor should he ask whether covering will make a difference unless/until he tries it. Having an answer to shoot for corrupts the experiment :-)
Gatorade is a secret formula, so it would just be a guess whether it contains something that retards rust, but as mentioned a couple of times on this page, acidic (low pH) liquids dissolve rust rather than creating it.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Q. Okay ted hopefully you get this by tomorrow morning but can you tell me some books that are good to look at for like what makes rust and why does rust happen. Please hurry thank you
Jordan M [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]- milwaukee,Wisconsin
February 17, 2010
A. Hi, Jordan. Sorry, but I have no expertise or experience in recommending children's science books. Your library probably has a librarian who has been trained in just exactly that. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
February 17, 2010
Q. I am in 5th grade and doing the same experiment mentioned by others, I placed steel wool [on eBay or Amazon] in 5 different liquids: salt water, tap water, coke, orange juice and vinegar [in bulk on eBay or Amazon]. The vinegar produced the most corrosion above the surface but no rust under the surface. The tap water and salt water produced the most rust under the surface. The orange juice and coke have produced no rust. I am wondering if there is less oxygen in the coke and orange juice?
Jesse F [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]student - longmont, Colorado
February 25, 2010
A. Hi, Jesse. The answer is near the beginning of this very long page. vinegar, orange juice, coke, and other mild acids dissolve rust faster than they dissolve the iron. So you will not see any rust. But let the liquid evaporate and the dish will be plenty rusty since the rust will no longer be dissolved in the liquid.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
February 2010
Q. Hello,
I am trying to help my 6th grader with her science fair project. She did the experiment to find out which liquid will rust a nail faster. She used tap water, salt water, bleach, and hydrogen peroxide. We have found that water will rust a nail faster than hydrogen peroxide. How is this so? Perhaps it's because the hydrogen peroxide has 2 oxygen atoms? I cannot find anything to help me explain this to her.
Thank you for your help!
- Indianapolis, Indiana
March 16, 2010
Q. hey I have the problem statement which type of liquid (vinegar, coke, orange juice, and water,) would rust a nail the fastest? and I just can't think of a title please help me out the science fair is in 2 days!
AMY R [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]- ORLANDO FLORIDA
March 24, 2010
A. Hi, Amy. What's wrong with: "Will vinegar, Coke, Orange Juice or Water Cause Fastest Rusting"?
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Q. I am in the 3rd grade and doing a science project on which liquid rusts a nail quicker. I used salt water, tap water, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and bleach. I watched the nails for 2 hrs and in those 2 hrs bleach started rusting the nail at the tip and end. I went to sleep and after 12 hrs the tap water had the nail completely rusted, I took out the liquids and opened my jars waiting on more results. I would just like to know why did the results I got happen and why did the tap water rust the nail completely?
G Jones- Jacksonville North Carolina
March 29, 2010
A. Hi, G. You made some useful observations: good work! But I would not try to explain all of this chemistry based on your two simple and very short-term observations. I would continue the experiment for several more days, then make a hypothesis, then re-do the experiment at least once more and preferably twice more.
There is simply too much random variation in the world, and too many possible factors that are uncontrolled, for you to make a definitive statement like "nails rust fastest is tap water" based on one solitary observation. And if we can't say with surety that something is even true, we certainly don't want to try to explain why it is true :-)
Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Q. I'm in 9th grade. I'm doing experiment to see which chemical accelerates the speed of the rusting of a nail. What's in lemonade that makes the nail rust?
Aleksandra S [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]student - sydney nsw australia
March 31, 2010
A. Hi, Aleksandra. Water for one thing. But sorry to say you're doing this experiment wrong in at least three ways :-)
1st - You either mixed the lemonade from lemons yourself, so you know what's in it, or you bought it in a can, which says what's in it. Asking someone else what is in it can only give you a non-reliable answer.
2nd - It is "junk science" if you conduct an experiment already knowing what result you are looking for because you'll interpret what you see through the filter of what you want to see.
3rd - Any attempt to assign causality is nothing more than a guess until you have done experiments that demonstrate that causality.
Good luck!
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
March 31, 2010
Q. Hi, I'm in 12th grade right now and I really really need help. I've been googling for a long time and I haven't found anything good.
Could you please explain to me:
1. Why is iron rusting exothermic? It releases heat , but why?
2. Why does acid make iron rust faster? More acidic = more rust? Please clarify.
Thank you so much.
Also, if you know any good websites (can't use Wikipedia), please recommend. Thanks.
- Seattle, Washington
April 21, 2010
A. Hi, Cathy. You are probably not allowed to use Wikipedia for the same reason that I wasn't allowed to use encylopedias way back when I was your age -- and that is because someone else has done all the research and compilation, and you'd just be grabbing the answer rather than actually learning to do the research. In the same way, if you just ask the questions and I answer them for you, what practice have you gotten in doing research? The right way to do this is probably to have your librarian guide you to the right shelf for appropriate science books, but by 12th grade you should be able to find the shelf yourself.
1. You don't find chunks of iron in nature because metallic iron is at a higher energy state than corroded, reacted iron. To make iron, you need to add energy (by heating the iron ore) while excluding oxygen. Over time the metallic iron you created will slowly react with oxygen to return to that lower energy state, slowing releasing energy (heat).
2. Acid doesn't actually make iron rust. As mentioned several times on this page, industry uses acid to remove rust from iron and steel, not to make it. But acid does dissolve iron into iron salts, so it does corrode iron. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
April 22, 2010
Q. Hello again,
Thanks so much for answering my question .
Although, the real reason my teacher won't allow us to use Wikipedia is because its "unreliable". Anyone can edit it, you see.
We're allowed to get information from ehow, for example.
Could you please explain to me how, exactly, does the acid dissolve iron into iron salts?
Thank you!
- Lilburn, Georgia
April 22, 2010
April 23, 2010
Hi again, Cathy. I see that your family moved cross country yesterday. Glad that it didn't interrupt your school work :-)
A. Please ask your teacher to research what ehow is actually about before s/he claims that it is more "reliable" than Wikipedia. In the opinion of some, ehow is nothing but an insulting "gaming" of google's Adsense program. They use machines to determine what the most popular search terms are, then assign someone from a pool of freelance writers (sometimes with no qualifications) to write an article for a pittance that is just stuffed with those search terms so it will rank high on google and bring in "clicks" on their advertisements.
An example of acid dissolving iron into iron salts would be:
2HCl + Fe => FeCl2 + H2
What drives it is the same thing as previously mentioned: things following their natural tendency to release heat and move to a lower energy state.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Thank you website!
I read this JUST before I did my experiment and it really helped and right now I'm writing out my experiment and yeaa
thanks again this website is mentioned in my bibliography!
xxxx
Saveena S [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- Sydney, NSW, Australia
July 22, 2010
Q. Hi I'm in grade 8 and I'm doing a science project on which liquids make a nail rust faster. I'm using vinegar tap water coca cola. How should I record my observations everyday? week? or what I'm not sure! Also should I test the pH levels?
Dina Cstudent - New jersey
August 13, 2010
August 16, 2010
A. Hi, Dina.
I would record something daily even if there isn't much to see. It certainly can't hurt to test the pH levels unless you feel that they are irrelevant to your hypothesis. What is your hypothesis?
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
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