Rusting of Iron

Who has not seen the damaging effects of rusting of iron! During the process of rusting the oxide that forms is brittle and chips off from the surface. This exposes yet another layer below to the deleterious effects of moisture and air. Thus, rusting destroys the metal layer by layer and can prove to be disastrous. From early days people have tried to find methods to prevent rusting and save iron metal.

Ordinary iron undergoes slow oxidation in presence of moist air, to form ferric oxide, commonly known as rust. This oxide has a variable number of water molecules. The chemical formula for rust is Fe₂O₃. x H₂O. The rust formed is in the form of flakes. They gradually break off, and the iron below also starts rusting. As a result, all the metal gets corroded and destroyed in due course of time.