GENERAL WOLFE SCHOOL
SCIENCE FAIR 2000-2001
BIO-RUSTING
PROJECT BY: MARCH
PROBLEM:
I am trying to determine which will make iron rust faster, anti-bacterial hand soap or environmental dirt.
HYPOTHESIS:
I thought that the anti-bacterial hand soap would make the iron nails rust faster because rusting is a chemical change and there for the chemicals in the bactericide, which is the bacterial soap would help make it rust faster.
MATERIALS:
2 glass jars
2 iron nails
environmental dirt
anti-bacterial hand soap (the bactericide)
distilled water
sheet of sand paper.
PROCEDURE:
1.) Get 2 jars and 2 iron nails.
2.) Clean the iron nails with sandpaper to get rid of any oil stains.
3.) Fill each jar with distilled water.
4.) Add to one jar environmental dirt and to the other anti-bacterial hand soap.
5.) Add the iron nails to each jar. Wait a week for the iron nails to rust and see which one rusted faster.
OBSERVATION:
Over the week that I spent on doing my experiment I didn't really observed any rusting on both nails. Two days over night I've noticed that the iron nail in the dirt was beginning to chemically react to the substance. A few days later I began to notice that the nail in the anti-bacterial soap was also beginning to change. After both nails had already begin to rust, each one already had their own characteristics. A weeks time had already passed and finally the rusting was completed.
CONCLUSION:
After observing the rusting for the past week I came to conclusion that my hypothesis was incorrect. By doing this experiment, I've determined that the environmental dirt was the substance that made the iron nails rust faster.
APPLICATION:
Rusting can be found everywhere in the world. It is a chemical reaction and therefore it will take place on an object being left away for a while. For example rusting was found on the Titanic after it sank for such a long time.