Chemistry Investigatory Project

Class 12th: 2023-24

To investigate the effect of pH level on corrosion rate

By
Krish Anand
St. Mary's School
Board Roll Number:
 1

Certificate
This is to certify that Krish Anand, a student of Class XII has
successfully completed the Chemistry Investigatory Project on
the Topic-
“To study the effect of pH level on corrosion rate” under the
supervision of Teacher Alisha Singh , during the year 2023-24 in
partial fulfillment of the Chemistry Practical Assessment
conducted by AISSCE, New Delhi.

Alisha Singh
 2

Acknowledgement
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my
Teacher Mrs Alisha Singh who gave me the golden opportunity
to do this wonderful project of Chemistry on the Topic
“To study the effect of pH level on corrosion rate” ,who has also
helped me in completing my project . I came to know about so
many new things , I am really thankful to her .
I extend my heartfelt thanks to my School faculty for their
guidance and constant supervision, as well as , for providing me
the necessary information regarding the project .
I am also thankful to my parents for their cooperation and
encouragement.

Krish Anand
XII-B
3
 4

Introduction
This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of pH
levels on corrosion rate.

What purpose does this experiment solve?

This experiment helps understand the act of pH and hence

demonstrate how a potentially corrosive situation may be
recognized and avoided.

Three sample metals — Copper, Aluminum and Stainless Steel;

were dipped in 3 beakers containing — Saturated NaOH
solution (pH 11), Distilled Water (pH 7) and Conc. H,SO4 Acid
(pH 3) respectively.

The weight loss after a particular time interval was recorded and
the corrosion rates of each individual metal in the different
solutions were also calculated and analyzed.
 5

Theory
pH, originally defined by Danish biochemist Seren Peter Lauritz
Serensen in 1909, is a measure of the concentration of hydrogen
ions. The term pH was derived from the manner in which the
hydrogen ion concentration is calculated, it is the negative
logarithm of the hydrogen ion (H+) concentration:

Where log is a base-10 logarithm. According to the Compact

Oxford English Dictionary, the "p" stands for the German word
for "power", potenz, so pH is an abbreviation for "power of
hydrogen".

A higher pH means there are fewer free hydrogen ions, and that
change of one pH unit reflects a tenfold change in the
concentrations of the hydrogen ion. For example, there are 10
times as many hydrogen ions available at a pH of 7 than at a pH
of 8. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is considered
to be neutral. Substances with pH of less than 7 are acidic and
substances with pH greater than 7 are considered to be basic.
Low pH acid waters clearly accelerate corrosion by providing a
plentiful supply of hydrogen ions. Although even absolutely
pure water contains some free hydrogen ions, free carbon
dioxide in the water can multiply the hydrogen ion concentration
 6

many times. When carbon dioxide dissolves in water, it reacts

with the water to form carbonic acid, a so-called weak acid, but
an effective source of acidity. Even more acidity is sometimes
encountered in acid mine waters, or in those contaminated with
industrial wastes.

Both acids and alkalis have the capability of being corrosive.

Sodium hydroxide, a very strong and corrosive alkali, would
have the same damaging effect on human tissue as sulfuric acid.
However, if sulfuric acid were allowed to contact human tissue,
severe burns would result, while the average person would not
detect even a burning sensation from contact with the
phosphoric acid. Why? The answer lies in the corrosive nature
of some acids over others.
 7

Corrosion is the gradual

destruction of material, usually
metals, by chemical reaction
with its environment. Corrosion
is the reversion of a metal to its
ore form. Iron, for example,
reverts to iron oxide as the
result of corrosion. The process
of corrosion however is a
complex electrochemical
reaction and it takes many
forms. Corrosion may produce
general attach over a large
metal surface or it may result in
pinpoint penetration of metal.
 8

Procedure
● In this experiment, the metals provided were cut into small
sizeable shapes and the solutions carefully prepared.
● The NaOH pellets provided were dissolved in 50 ml of
distilled water, and more NaOH pellets were added till the
solution could no longer dissolve the pellets and became
saturated. It must be stressed here that so many pellets had
to be added because NaOH is very soluble in water as a
result of the hydrogen bonds formed.
● Also, equal amounts of Distilled water and conc. H,SO4
Acid were shared into the remaining beakers.
● Careful observations were made as to which solution turned
cloudy and what the nature of the metals looked like during
and after the corrosion process.
● The weight loss of the metals was calculated by subtracting
the initial weight before the corrosion process from the
final weight after washing and drying of the metal.
● The corrosion rate for each of the metals in the various
solutions of stated pH levels was calculated and necessary
deductions were made.
 9

Observation Table
Beaker A - Saturated NaOH solution (pH 11)

Beaker B - Distilled water (pH 7)

Beaker C - H2SO4 (pH 3)

The following table shows the weightloss of the metals (copper aluminum
and stainless steel) in the beakers A, B &C

Beaker A - saturated NaOH solution (pH 11)

METAL INITIAL FINAL WEIGHT TIME
SAMPLE MASS MASS LOSS TAKEN

Copper
Aluminum
Stainless Steel

Beaker B - Distilled Water (pH 7)

METAL INITIAL FINAL WEIGHT TIME
SAMPLE MASS MASS LOSS TAKEN

Copper
Aluminum
Stainless Steel
 10

Beaker C - conc. H2SO4 (pH 3)

METAL INITIAL FINAL WEIGHT TIME
SAMPLE MASS MASS LOSS TAKEN

Copper
Aluminum
Stainless Steel

Visual Proof (Pictures):

 11

Calculations:
Corrosion Rate = Weight loss / Time Taken
 12

The Observation Table for corrosion Rate

Metal Sample Weight Loss Time Takes Corrosion Rate

(g) (s) (g/s)

Beaker A - saturated NaOH solution (pH 11)

Copper
Aluminum
Stainless Steel
Beaker B - Distilled Water (pH 7)
Copper
Aluminum
Stainless Steel
Beaker C - conc. H2SO4 (pH 3)
Copper
Aluminum
Stainless Steel
 13

Results:
For copper
 14

For aluminum
 15

For stainless steel

The data obtained can therefore be summarized in the table

below:

Metal Sample Corrosion Rate (g/s)

Saturated Distilled Water Conc. H2SO4
NaOH solution
Copper
Aluminum
Stainless Steel
 16

Conclusion:
 17

Bibliography: