Compare The Rate Of Corrosion

Hypothesis: If the presence of salt dissolved in water is increased, then the rate of corrosion will increase.
Aim: To compare the rates of corrosion of different nails by adding them to different samples of water, both salt and fresh, and then analysing the rate in which the nails corrode .
Metals corrode via a process called redox reactions. Corrosion causes substantial costs to the economy as water pipes and buildings corrode very easily. On average $50 billion is spent annually in an attempt to prevent metals from corrosion. Corrosion is widely known for its orange-brown flakes known as rust. Corrosion can happen via two ways, either dry corrosion, which is a direct reaction with oxygen to form metal oxide. The other form of corrosion is, wet corrosion. Wet corrosion is known for the presence of moisture which accelerates the process in which metals rust. It can occur in moist air or when in

Alloying: When a substance is formed when other materials are mixed with a metal.
Cathodic protection: use of a low voltage power supply to ensure that a reduction reaction occurs at a metal surface to prevent corrosion. This investigation will focus on the experiment conducted to identify the effects and rate in which different nails corrode under different wet corrosion methods; via simple wet corrosion by placing the nails in fresh water, and via placing nails in water with salt impurities. By doing this it will hopefully be concluded that metals do corrode faster when in the presence of impurities in water. [1]
1. If necessary, clean the nails with fine sandpaper. Weigh each nail and record initial results.
2. Label each test- tube with either tap water or salt water, and place a nail in each one.
3. Add tap water to the first 4 test tubes labelled tap water, ensure to cover the nails with 50ml of