ARMY PUBLIC 

SCHOOL 
RANIKHET 
 
Chemistry Project File 
 
​Effect of metal coupling on 
rusting  
of iron 
Submitted By:​ Subhangi Sati 
 ​ lass:​
C XII-A 
​ iss.Shubhangi Sharma 
Submitted To:​ M
   

Index 
TOPIC​ ​ ​PAGE NO.
●Certificate  1 
●Acknowledgement 2 
●Introduction 3 
●Prevention 5 
●Treatment 7 
●Coupling Reaction 8   
●Experiment 9 
●Bibliography 12 
 Certificate
 
It has been certified that ​Subhangi Sati​ studying in 
XII-A​, during the academic year 2019-2020 has 
completed the project on the ​study of the effect of metal 
coupling on the rusting of iron​ and has given satisfactory 
account of this in her project report.   
​Shubhangi Sharma   
(PGT Chemistry) 
 
Signature Signature 
 
 Acknowledgement
 
I would like to express my gratitude to Miss Shubhangi 
Sharma, our chemistry teacher, whose help and 
encouragement made this project possible. 
I would also like to thanks to ​Mr. Madan​, the lab 
assistant for his help during the completion of this 
project. 
 
Subhangi sati 
XII- A  
 
 
 

 
Introduction    

 
Metals and alloys undergo rusting and corrosion. The process by 
which some metals when exposed to atmospheric condition i.e. 
moist air, carbon dioxide form undesirable compounds on the 
surface is known as corrosion. The compounds formed are 
usually oxides. Rusting is also a type of corrosion but the term is 
restricted to iron or products made from it. Iron is easily prone 
to rusting making it surface rough. Chemically, rust is a 
hydrated ferric oxide.  
Rust is formed by the redox reaction of iron and oxygen in the 
presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrated iron 
(III) oxides Fe​2​O​3​.nH​2​O and iron (III) oxide-hydroxide 
(FeO(OH), Fe(OH)​3​). 
Rust is another name for iron oxide, which occurs when iron or 
an alloy that contains iron, like steel, is exposed to oxygen and 
moisture for a long period of time. Over time, the oxygen 
combines with the metal at an atomic level, forming a new 
compound called an oxide and weakening the bonds of the 
metals itself. 
Rusting may be explained by an electrochemical mechanism. In 
the presence of moist air containing dissolved oxygen or carbon 
dioxide, the commercial iron behaves as if composed of small 
electrical cells. At anode of cell, iron passes into solution as 
ferrous ions. 
Fe Fe​2+ ​+ 2e​- 
The electrons from the above reaction move towards the cathode 
and form hydroxyl ions 
H​2​O + (O) + 2e​-​ 2OH​- 
Under the influence of dissolved oxygen the ferrous ions and 
hydroxyl ions interact to form rust, i.e., hydrated ferric oxide. 
2Fe​2+​ + H​2​O + (O) 2Fe​3+ ​+ 2OH​- 
2Fe​3+​ + 6OH​- ​ Fe​2​O​3​.3H​2​O or 2Fe(OH)​3 
(Rust) 
If supply of oxygen is limited the corrosion product may be black 
anhydrous magnetite, Fe​3 
  

 
Prevention

Rust is permeable to air and water, therefore the interior 

metallic iron beneath a rust layer continues to corrode. Rust 
prevention thus requires coatings that preclude rust formation. 
Some of the methods used to prevent corrosion and rusting are 
discussed here: 
 ❖ Galvanization:  
The metallic iron is covered by a layer of more active metal such 
as zinc. The active metal loses electrons in preference to iron.  
Zn Zn​2+​ + 2e​- 
Thus, protecting iron from rusting and corrosion. 

❖ Coatings and Paintings:  

Rust formation can be controlled with coatings, such as paint, 
lacquer, or varnish that isolate the iron from the environment. 

   
 
❖ Inhibitors: 
Corrosion inhibitors, such as gas-phase or violate inhibitors, can 
be used to prevent corrosion inside sealed systems. They are not 
effective when air circulation disperses them, and brings in fresh 
oxygen and moisture. 
 ❖ Humidity control: 
Rust can be avoided by controlling the moisture in the use of 
silica gel packets to control humidity in equipment shipped by 
sea. 
 

 
 

Treatment 
 
Rust removal from small iron or steel objects by 
electrolysis can be done in a home workshop using simple 
materials such as plastic bucket, tap water, lengths of 
rebar, washing soda, baling wire, and a battery charger. 
Rust may be treated with commercial products known as 
rust converter which contain tannic acid which combines 
with rust. 
 

Coupling reaction 
 
A coupling reaction in organic chemistry is a general term 
for a variety of reactions where two fragments are coupled 
with an aid of metal catalyst. In one important reaction 
type a main group organometallic compound of the type 
RM(R= organic fragment, M= main group centre) reacts 
with an organic halide of the type R’X with formation of 
a new carbon-carbon bond in the product R-R’. 

❖ Catalysts involved in metal coupling 

reaction: 
The most common catalyst is palladium, but an increasing 
number of reactions use nickel. Other catalysts include 
copper, platinum, iron, cobalt, and amines. 
 

 
 
 
Experiment 
 
❖ Aim: 
To study the effect of metal coupling on rusting of iron. 

❖ Requirements: 
Two petridishes, four test tubes, four iron nails, beaker, 
sand paper, wire gauge. Gelatin, copper, zinc, magnesium 
strips, potassium ferricyanide solution, phenolphthalein. 

❖ Procedure: 
Clean the surface of iron nails with the help of sand 
paper. Wash them with carbon tetrachloride and dry 
on filter paper. 
Wind a clean zinc strip around one nail, a clean 
copper wire around the second and clean magnesium 
strip around the third nail. Put all these third and a 
fourth nail in petridishes so that they are not in 
contact with each other. 
Preparation of agar agar solution.​ Heat about 3gm of 
agar agar in 100ml of water taken in a beaker until 
solution becomes clear. Add about 1ml of 0.1M 
potassium ferri-cyanide solution, 1ml of 
phenol-phthalein solution and stir well the contents. 
 Fill the petridishes with hot agar agar solution in 
such a way that only lower half of the nails are 
covered with the liquids. 
Keep the covered petridishes undisturbed for one day 
or so. 
The liquid sets to a gel on cooling. Two types of 
patches are observed around the rusted nail, one is 
blue and the other is pink. Blue patch is due to the 
reaction between ferrous ions and potassium 
ferricyanide, to form potassium Ferro-ferricyanide, 
KFe [Fe(CN)​6​] whereas pink patch is due to the 
formation of hydroxyl ions which turns colorless 
phenolphthalein to pink.  

Observations: 
S.No.  Metal pair  Colour of the  Nail rusts or 
patch  not 
1.  Iron-zinc  pink  No 
2.  Iron-magnesi Pink  No 
um   
3.  Iron-copper  blue  Yes 
4.  Iron -nail  blue  Yes 
 
 
❖ Conclusion: 
It is clear from the observations that coupling of iron with 
more electropositive metal such as zinc and magnesium 
resists corrosion and rusting of iron. Coupling of iron with 
less electropositive metal such as copper increases rusting. 
  
 
 
 
 
 

Bibliography: 
 
NCERT Chemistry – XII 
Comprehensive Practical Chemistry – XII 
www.scribd.com 
www.google.com 
Wikipedia