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Q:
Why does water,vinegar and bleach rust iron faster then plain water
- Deborah Kisiel (age 11)
Kanaka Creek Elementary School, Maple Ridge, B.C., Canada,
A:
We found what looks like a nice website describing this process:
Rusting Apparently, a first step in rusting involves some iron coming off
the metal, going into solution. Iron is more soluble in acidic
solutions, like vinegar, so I suppose that's why vinegar might speed up
the process. The product of rusting is oxidized iron. Since bleaches
are strong oxidizing agents (that's how they work), it's not surprising
that they accelerate rusting.
(published on 10/22/2007)
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