Iron Oxidation
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Background Paper
My topic is oxidation, which is a chemical reaction where electrons travel from
a molecule, losing an electron, or an oxygen atom being added to a molecule. Oxidation can be used in quite a few of the fields of science, but it’s mainly used in chemistry. I'll also be talking about the one that uses oxygen atoms, not the electron one.
One cool function in oxidation with your body is with hemoglobin. Where it binds the iron in the hemoglobin with the oxygen, which allows your red blood cells to carry the oxygen to other places. Though it causes the hemoglobin to “rust” which makes oxygen to not stick to the hemoglobin anymore. Though your blood cells produce antioxidants, which allows the hemoglobin to be able to hold oxygen again!
Some of the studies you can do with oxidation is to see if the product is acidic or not, how much matter has been lost in oxidation in metals (rust) by measuring weight change, and how fast it takes for something to oxidize or to oxidize to a certain amount. What I am doing for my experiment is coating iron in liquids and my control is leaving it in open air, and seeing how much surface area the rust has covered over a period of time. You can also even test what the molecule’s new properties are when it is oxidized, and how it interacts with other molecules/atoms.
Though I’ll tell you the most common experiment is when it comes to oxidation. It is seeing what substances prevent oxidation, and how much of them is nedded to stop oxidation. Also, since oxidation is a chemical reaction, it can’t be undone (like baking a loaf of bread, cake, or cookies).
One special interaction is with ozone and bacteria. Ozone is an unstable molecule made up of 3 oxygen atoms (my experiment doesn't use ozone as stated earlier, it just uses the molecules you normally find in the air at ground level), and when the ozone molecule comes into contact with a carbon atom, it releases a high burst of energy as the ozone turns into an oxygen molecule . Then the separated oxygen bonds with the carbon and it forms carbon monoxide.
What does this do with bacteria you may ask? Well the high energy burst can damage the bacteria’s cell wall, forming holes, and there is carbon in the bacteria’s cell wall, which allows that reaction to take place, and causes even more damage. The holes made by the chemical reaction in the bacteria’s cell wall cause its insides to spill out, killing it. Bacteria also are unable to become immune to it too. There is also no environmental downside to this reaction due to it just producing oxygen and oxygen oxide, which aren’t harmful to any living organisms.
Though oxide is normally in the upper atmosphere where it does not cause any damage to living organisms, if it ends up coming into contact with an organism’s respiratory organs, it can cause damage to those cells the same way as it does to bacteria, though they have defenses against it which basically stops the damage ozone can cause.
In short oxidization is a chemical reaction where oxygen bonds to other molecules, which alters their properties, colors, or shape.
a molecule, losing an electron, or an oxygen atom being added to a molecule. Oxidation can be used in quite a few of the fields of science, but it’s mainly used in chemistry. I'll also be talking about the one that uses oxygen atoms, not the electron one.
One cool function in oxidation with your body is with hemoglobin. Where it binds the iron in the hemoglobin with the oxygen, which allows your red blood cells to carry the oxygen to other places. Though it causes the hemoglobin to “rust” which makes oxygen to not stick to the hemoglobin anymore. Though your blood cells produce antioxidants, which allows the hemoglobin to be able to hold oxygen again!
Some of the studies you can do with oxidation is to see if the product is acidic or not, how much matter has been lost in oxidation in metals (rust) by measuring weight change, and how fast it takes for something to oxidize or to oxidize to a certain amount. What I am doing for my experiment is coating iron in liquids and my control is leaving it in open air, and seeing how much surface area the rust has covered over a period of time. You can also even test what the molecule’s new properties are when it is oxidized, and how it interacts with other molecules/atoms.
Though I’ll tell you the most common experiment is when it comes to oxidation. It is seeing what substances prevent oxidation, and how much of them is nedded to stop oxidation. Also, since oxidation is a chemical reaction, it can’t be undone (like baking a loaf of bread, cake, or cookies).
One special interaction is with ozone and bacteria. Ozone is an unstable molecule made up of 3 oxygen atoms (my experiment doesn't use ozone as stated earlier, it just uses the molecules you normally find in the air at ground level), and when the ozone molecule comes into contact with a carbon atom, it releases a high burst of energy as the ozone turns into an oxygen molecule . Then the separated oxygen bonds with the carbon and it forms carbon monoxide.
What does this do with bacteria you may ask? Well the high energy burst can damage the bacteria’s cell wall, forming holes, and there is carbon in the bacteria’s cell wall, which allows that reaction to take place, and causes even more damage. The holes made by the chemical reaction in the bacteria’s cell wall cause its insides to spill out, killing it. Bacteria also are unable to become immune to it too. There is also no environmental downside to this reaction due to it just producing oxygen and oxygen oxide, which aren’t harmful to any living organisms.
Though oxide is normally in the upper atmosphere where it does not cause any damage to living organisms, if it ends up coming into contact with an organism’s respiratory organs, it can cause damage to those cells the same way as it does to bacteria, though they have defenses against it which basically stops the damage ozone can cause.
In short oxidization is a chemical reaction where oxygen bonds to other molecules, which alters their properties, colors, or shape.
Investigation Paper
Here is what I am going to use for my experiment: Iron all-threads (which are like screws except without the head and pointed tip), water, 91% rubbing alcohol, and dawn dish soap on paper plates.
First, I put a paper towel on a paper plate, then I took the all-threads and placed one on without being dipped in any liquid, and this one is going to be the control. Then I took the second all-thread and put it in water, then I took it out of the water and placed it on a different corner of the paper plate. Next, I took a third one and dipped it in a cup that was filled with the 91% rubbing alcohol and put the all-thread on a third corner of the paper plate after taking it out of the cup.
Finally, I took the third all-thread and poured a little bit of Dawn dish soap into my hand and smeared it all over the last all-thread. Once I did that I put it on the last corner of the paper plate. When that was completed, I put the paper plate with the all-threads in my room and took pictures of them. Next, I left them there until morning.
Then when twenty-four hours passed, I took pictures of the all-threads from different angles and wrote down the progress on how much rust there was. I noticed that there was no rust on the control. Then I saw that there was no rust on the water dipped one, but the water mostly evaporated. Then I checked the Dawn dish soap and the alcohol one, and the Dawn didn’t have any rust, but there wasn’t any bit of rust on the alcohol one either. Lastly, I waited another twenty-four hours.
I then repeated that routine again, and took pictures of them again. Then I noticed that there wasn’t any rust on the control all-thread, and I wrote that down in my notes. Next I saw that there wasn’t the smallest smudge of rust on the all-thread that was dipped in water, which I then recorded in my notes too. Then I looked at the all-thread that was covered in the dawn dish soap and saw that there was still no rust yet (and recorded that in my notes). Once I completed that I waited another twenty-four hours.
Once that was over, I repeated the routine again. This time, there was a little bit of rust on the alcohol and water one. Which I noted. There was also no rust on the control or dawn one yet.
On day four, I noticed that there was a little bit of unexplained damage along the edges that had no rust on the damaged areas. There was also a little more rust on the water and alcohol all-threads. I then put that in my notes and waited another day.
On day five here was significantly more rust on the alcohol one. There was also a little bit of rust on the water all-thread. I also noticed that so far, all the rust has accumulated in the grooves of the all-threads.
Finally when the experiment ended on day six, the little rust that appeared on the dawn was only in the grooves. There still isn’t any rust on the control.
Also all this was run at about 74 degrees F. Also the pictures couldn’t show the progress of the rust due to it being in the grooves. Along with about it being 40% humidity.
First, I put a paper towel on a paper plate, then I took the all-threads and placed one on without being dipped in any liquid, and this one is going to be the control. Then I took the second all-thread and put it in water, then I took it out of the water and placed it on a different corner of the paper plate. Next, I took a third one and dipped it in a cup that was filled with the 91% rubbing alcohol and put the all-thread on a third corner of the paper plate after taking it out of the cup.
Finally, I took the third all-thread and poured a little bit of Dawn dish soap into my hand and smeared it all over the last all-thread. Once I did that I put it on the last corner of the paper plate. When that was completed, I put the paper plate with the all-threads in my room and took pictures of them. Next, I left them there until morning.
Then when twenty-four hours passed, I took pictures of the all-threads from different angles and wrote down the progress on how much rust there was. I noticed that there was no rust on the control. Then I saw that there was no rust on the water dipped one, but the water mostly evaporated. Then I checked the Dawn dish soap and the alcohol one, and the Dawn didn’t have any rust, but there wasn’t any bit of rust on the alcohol one either. Lastly, I waited another twenty-four hours.
I then repeated that routine again, and took pictures of them again. Then I noticed that there wasn’t any rust on the control all-thread, and I wrote that down in my notes. Next I saw that there wasn’t the smallest smudge of rust on the all-thread that was dipped in water, which I then recorded in my notes too. Then I looked at the all-thread that was covered in the dawn dish soap and saw that there was still no rust yet (and recorded that in my notes). Once I completed that I waited another twenty-four hours.
Once that was over, I repeated the routine again. This time, there was a little bit of rust on the alcohol and water one. Which I noted. There was also no rust on the control or dawn one yet.
On day four, I noticed that there was a little bit of unexplained damage along the edges that had no rust on the damaged areas. There was also a little more rust on the water and alcohol all-threads. I then put that in my notes and waited another day.
On day five here was significantly more rust on the alcohol one. There was also a little bit of rust on the water all-thread. I also noticed that so far, all the rust has accumulated in the grooves of the all-threads.
Finally when the experiment ended on day six, the little rust that appeared on the dawn was only in the grooves. There still isn’t any rust on the control.
Also all this was run at about 74 degrees F. Also the pictures couldn’t show the progress of the rust due to it being in the grooves. Along with about it being 40% humidity.
Conclusion
So in conclusion, what I did was that I dipped iron all-threads in water, 91% alcohol, and Dawn dish soap, while leaving the last one out in the open air. The setting was indoors, at 74 degrees Fahrenheit (or 23 degrees celsius rounding to the nearest whole number). Next, I took pictures of them and officially started the experiment, which was that I would do the previous steps, and every morning, I would take pictures of them. Along with writing down what their condition was based on visual analysis.
Also, I repeated the experiment three times at once. So, this is what happened: First, on day one (the morning after the setup) I noticed that the water evaporated on the water one, but there was no rust. On day two, I noticed the tiniest bit of rust on the water and alcohol all-threads, but none on the others.
On day three, there were no changes except for the alcohol spreading a little more. Along with the rust only appearing in the groves. Although on day four, I noticed some damage along the edges/threads, which was just small cracks on the surface. Also, the rust on the alcohol spread a little more, along with the rust on the water all-thread.
Afterwards, on day five, the rust significantly spread on the alcohol all-thread. While the rust on the water all-thread only spread a tiny bit more. Although, there was still no rust on the control and Dawn all-threads.
Finally, on day six, there was minor increased damage (which was barely noticeable). I also noticed that the rust on the alcohol all-thread spread again, though not that much. Along with there being the tiniest bit of rust on the Dawn all-thread (Ps. the ones that I’m showing are the ones from after my experiment finished, but they moved around so I lost which ones go where, so they are unreliable now). Oh, also, there was one thing I forgot to mention earlier. That thing was that all the liquids evaporated from days two or three.
Overall what I got out of this was that alcohol greatly increases the speed of rust. Along with water. So I hypothesize that most if not all acids will increase the speed of rust once the liquid comes off of the metal and oxygen can seep through the gaps in the protective coating caused by the acid. Also, surprisingly the Dawn actually removed the protective coating, though at a lesser rate because it’s alkaline (as I thought that it’d slow down the oxidization).
Along with that I learned not to get metal wet/ soaked if it isn’t made to handle it, because doing that can cause rust to appear faster. I also used my investigation papers, though when writing them I mixed up the control and water at times, and I made a couple tiny mistakes causing me to think there was more rust than there was, though that didn’t impact my results. I just corrected them here.
Also, I repeated the experiment three times at once. So, this is what happened: First, on day one (the morning after the setup) I noticed that the water evaporated on the water one, but there was no rust. On day two, I noticed the tiniest bit of rust on the water and alcohol all-threads, but none on the others.
On day three, there were no changes except for the alcohol spreading a little more. Along with the rust only appearing in the groves. Although on day four, I noticed some damage along the edges/threads, which was just small cracks on the surface. Also, the rust on the alcohol spread a little more, along with the rust on the water all-thread.
Afterwards, on day five, the rust significantly spread on the alcohol all-thread. While the rust on the water all-thread only spread a tiny bit more. Although, there was still no rust on the control and Dawn all-threads.
Finally, on day six, there was minor increased damage (which was barely noticeable). I also noticed that the rust on the alcohol all-thread spread again, though not that much. Along with there being the tiniest bit of rust on the Dawn all-thread (Ps. the ones that I’m showing are the ones from after my experiment finished, but they moved around so I lost which ones go where, so they are unreliable now). Oh, also, there was one thing I forgot to mention earlier. That thing was that all the liquids evaporated from days two or three.
Overall what I got out of this was that alcohol greatly increases the speed of rust. Along with water. So I hypothesize that most if not all acids will increase the speed of rust once the liquid comes off of the metal and oxygen can seep through the gaps in the protective coating caused by the acid. Also, surprisingly the Dawn actually removed the protective coating, though at a lesser rate because it’s alkaline (as I thought that it’d slow down the oxidization).
Along with that I learned not to get metal wet/ soaked if it isn’t made to handle it, because doing that can cause rust to appear faster. I also used my investigation papers, though when writing them I mixed up the control and water at times, and I made a couple tiny mistakes causing me to think there was more rust than there was, though that didn’t impact my results. I just corrected them here.
