Corrosion Experiment

What are you investigating?

To investigate the factors that causes rusting in iron.

What do you think will happen? 

Nail Polish + Water - I think that the nail polish will protect the nail from corroding. The nail polish acts like a barrier.

Oil - I think the corrosion depends on what chemicals is used in the oil. Since we used pure vegetable oil, I don't think anything will happen.

Saltwater - I think the salt particles will help corrode the nails.

Calcium Chloride + Water - The chemicals in the powder will corrode the nail.

Magnesium + Water - I don't think the magnesium will do anything. So I think the nail will be fine.

Water - Since the water doesn't have anything mixed in it, I don't think anything will happen to the nail.

What is corrosion?

Corrosion is when a metal carbonate reacts with an acid it will form a salt, carbon dioxide and water. Carbon dioxide is a gas and can be seen as bubbles as the reaction happens.

Observations:

Nail Polish + Water - The nail polish helped the nail from corroding. This means that the part of the nail that was covered by the nail polish, didn't corrode.

Oil - The nail in the oil didn't corrode at all. It stayed just like how it was in the first place.

Saltwater - The nail in the saltwater corroded a lot.

Calcium Chloride + Water - The nail in the calcium Chloride didn't corrode as much but it still did corrode.

Magnesium + Water - The nail didn't corrode as much as I thought it would.

Water - The nail in the water corroded a lot, just like the nail in the saltwater.

Which was the best for preventing corrision? 

The best for preventing corrosion was the nail polish and the oil.

Which caused most corrosion?

Saltwater and Water caused more corrosion to the nail.