Home > categories > Minerals & Metallurgy > Steel Coils > Consider an experiment in which an aluminum soft drink can and a steel soup can are left outside for a few da?
Question:

Consider an experiment in which an aluminum soft drink can and a steel soup can are left outside for a few da?

days. Use your knowledge of the corrosion of steel and aluminum to predict how they would look different after a week exposed to rainy weather. Explain your prediction.

Answer:

Steel rusts, aluminum doesn't so the steel can would be rusty and the aluminum can would not.
I'd expect appearance of reddish dots or stains of rust on steel, while aluminium should stay virtually unchanged. Explanation: Both materials oxidize in natural environment because of atmospheric moist, but in very different ways. As for steel, oxidation begins as reddish dots of rust which grow and become stains. Oxidation then progresses in depth causing decay of material, compromising its strength and structural integrity.

Share to: