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Stainless steel's effect on pH of solutions

I'm doing a grade 12 chemistry project for school, testing the effectiveness of different types of steel in different solutions. I found that stainless steel screws in water and salt water over a three week period caused a significant increase in pH (from neutral to pH = 2). I cannot find any information online regarding these unexpected changes and I was wondering if you could help. Thanks!

Alayna C
Student - Coolum Beach, QLD, Australia
September 8, 2010

It's probably too late for you now, but I find your observation to be highly unlikely. You should repeat the experiment to confirm these results, preferably with the test containers better isolated from external sources than your first trial.

Also, neutral to 2 is a DEcrease in pH, I don't know if that was a typo on your part or confusion concerning the pH scale.

Ray Kremer
Stellar Solutions, Inc.

McHenry, Illinois

October 21, 2010

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