Nailing corrosion - teaching rusting from an electrochemical perspective

Most courses studied by 16–18 year olds require them to be familiar with the process of rusting from an electrochemical perspective. However, many rusting demonstrations take a long time to produce any results without providing much information about the various electrochemical processes occurring. The use of phenolphthalein and hexacyanoferrate(III) as indicators is a rapid and great way to infer the presence of the various ions that form during rusting.

Read the article that accompanies this video in the March 2016 issue of Education in Chemistry at http://rsc.li/EiC216ec

This is part of the Education in Chemistry Exhibition Chemistry series: chemistry demonstrations to capture your students' imaginations: http://rsc.li/EiCExChem