MY CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT

By Rob Sbaglia

AIM

The aim was to find out whether I could use different metals affect a nail rusting.

EQUIPMENT

Zinc ribbon Copper ribbon Vaseline 4 iron nails 4 test tubes test tube holder

METHOD1. Wrap the copper ribbon

around a nail as pictured on the left.

2. Wrap the zinc ribbon on another nail as shown.

3. Completely cover one of the nails with vaseline.

4. Into a fourth test tube place a nail.

5. Fill each tube with water and leave standing for 4 days

RESULTS

Nail Result

Nail with copper Lots of rusting

Nail with zinc No rusting

Nail with vaseline No rusting

Nail with water Lots of rusting

DISCUSSION

It was hard to see how much rusting had happened. I think next time I might weigh the nails and see if they have changed weight.

Rusting happens when water comes into contact with iron. I read that some metals rust instead of iron if they are in there together. The rust preferred the zinc to the iron, but the rust preferred the iron to the zinc

Copper doesn’t rust

Zinc rusts instead of nail

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, copper doesn’t rust so it is no good at protecting a nail. Zinc does rust, so it can protect a nail from rusting.