How come rust built up on iron things looks like a thick crust, but somehow when it's removed it's like there's nothing gone from the original?
How come rust built up on iron things looks like a thick crust, but somehow when it's removed it's like there's nothing gone from the original?
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Because the rust is very fluffy, while the iron is very dense. So a very small volume of iron can turn into a large volume of rust.
The iron is disappearing though. Just slowly. You could tell if you weighed it with a sensitive scale.
22 0 ReplyJust want to add, that rust is not pure iron oxide(? can't do chemistry in english) but also contains water molecules
4 0 ReplyReally? I suppose rust is stranger than I even thought.
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To add to this, rust is only about 70% iron by mass, with the remainder being oxygen. So the rust basically weighs a bit more than just the iron used to create it.
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