- When a metal oxidizes (rusts), it reacts with oxygen in the air. The oxygen combines chemically with atoms of the metal, and the "rust" you see is the oxide of that metal.
- In this lab, you will cause steel wool to oxidize in a closed environment, and observe the change in volume due to the loss of oxygen.
MATERIALS:2 test tubes
2 utility clamps
Ring stand
Shallow pan
Steel wool
WaterPROCEDURE:
1. Place enough moist steel wool into the bottom of a test tube to fill about 1/4 of the tube.
2. Set up the apparatus as shown in the drawing. The test tube with the moist steel wool, and an empty (control) test tube are lowered into a pan of water about 1/2 inch or more. Set aside undisturbed for 24 hours.
3. After 24 hours, observe the two test tubes. The water will have risen in the one with the moist steel wool in it, about 1/5 of the way up the tube. The empty tube will show no change in the water level.
OBSERVATION:
4. If removing the oxygen from the air in the tube raises the water level about 1/5 of the volume, what can you conclude about oxygen in air?
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- In this lab, you will cause steel wool to oxidize in a closed environment, and observe the change in volume due to the loss of oxygen.
OBSERVING OXIDATION
(Rust)
INTRODUCTION: