It’s been a while since I shared a fun science activity. I must admit that my mind hit a blank. That was until this morning when we made a trip to the beach front. I love the drive through the city to the sea shore, the people are interesting to watch, all so unique and from different walks of life. My favourite though is the buildings, I’m always in awe when I see historical architecture and I try to imagine what it must have been like to stroll down the streets decades ago. It’s quite sad to see these buildings eroding however, with broken windows and soggy door frames - rust everywhere!

Now you must understand that I have one of those busy minds that runs in all directions, so while at one moment I was absorbing the sites, the next I was thinking about rust, and what it is. How do we get rust?! As soon as I got home from our day at the beach, I gave the word “rust” a Google, and low and behold, not only did I learn more about iron oxide, but I stumbled upon this awesome experiment too!

Science Experiment: Let’s See What Rusts

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Ok so this experiment needs time, and will take a few days to get results. While younger children will show some curiosity, this activity is more suited for older students. So, first of all, let’s take a look at what rust is exactly.

Rust is the reddish brown compound called iron oxide that forms when iron and oxygen react in the presence of water and air, hence the term oxidation. - https://teachbesideme.com/oxidation-rust-experiment/

To do the experiment, you will need the following:

• Paper cups
• Water
• Salt
• Metal objects, for example: nails, nuts, bolts, screws, paper clips, staples, hairpins, coins

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Instructions:

1. Set six or so paper cups on a tray.
2. Fill three up with plain water, and fill the other three with salt water.
3. Place a screw into a plain water cup, and another screw in the salt water cup. Do this with each of your metal objects. Make sure to mark which cups have salt added.
4. At this point you can ask your students to write down their predictions, for instance, which item do they think will rust first, and in which solution.

The results:

Check your cups each day to observe the state of each object.

While Oxidation can occur without adding the object to water, it will definitely speed up the process. Adding salt to the water speeds up the process even faster.

The items that have been coated with paint, or galvanized with zinc, like the paper clips and staples, took much longer to rust, or did not rust at all! 

DID YOU KNOW?

Early chemists could determine an increase in the weight of a metal as it apparently captured something from the air and transformed into a completely different material The 'something' was eventually identified as oxygen, and the new materials that formed were called 'oxides'. The chemical process came to be known as oxidation. - http://www.scienceiq.com/Facts/WhatisOxidation.cfm

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Source Link: https://teachbesideme.com/oxidation-rust-experiment/

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This experiment is safe for kids to do on their own, but is most effective with the accompanying theory, that is: what rust is and how it occurs. It could possibly take a few weeks for some items to start rusting, so if you are doing this as a class activity, it's probably best to set everything up at the beginning of the term, so that the experiment can be finalised conclusively towards the end.

Isn't science so amazing? Who would of thought that a whole new substance can be created with a simple reaction of water and air? I hope you enjoy doing this with your kids, it's going to be very interesting to see what their predictions are!

Much love - @sweetpea

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