We wanted to see what causes rust. We put some screws and nails in different situations. Some nails and screws were beaten up. Some nails and screws were good. Some were dipped in oil. Then some of each kind were sprinkled with salt water, with normal water, no water, with salt water and put in the dark, or soaked in salt water.
The most rusty nails had been soaked in salt water or sprinkled with salt water and put in the dark. The nails sprinkled with normal water were not as rusty. The screws and nails dipped in oil did not rust as much. The nails and screws that were dry did not get rusted. All of the screws and nails that had been sprinkled with water had more rust on the bottom side, next to the plastic. This was all after only one week!
We thought it was interesting that it was so, so, so rusty after only one week! Why did the dark affect how rusty the nails got? We found out that salt made them rust faster, but with no water they did not rust. We also thought it was interesting that the nails and screws soaked in salt water rusted so much, because air is needed for rusting.
Very interesting project Nate and Pete! It is neat doing projects like that and learning from doing it. This is Wendell and Jaren's mom writing. One project we did this fall was to make a bird feeders. One we made out of an empty juice bottle, which we filled with seed. The other one was some homemade suet, which we hung in an onion bag. These bags have big holes which the birds can feed from. The birds seem to like the suet feeder the best. The birds we see most frequently is the chickadees and we have a downy woodpecker that comes to feed daily as well. It has been interesting. We hope it works out to see you when you come to Canada!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Mrs. Tammy Bergen