Iron Oxide on the Titanic (1 Viewer)

lochnessmonsta

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So we were given a sheet on friday from Surfing Chemistry (I think) that said on the Titanic there was Iron (III) compounds, including rust. This was given out by a sub, but our usual teacher also hands these sheets out.

Today we were reviewing it and from the Conquering Chemistry textbook our teacher wrote on the board that there are no Iron (III) compounds on the Titanic, as there is little/no oxygen for it to occur. I told him about the sheets on friday and he said there is no normal rust, only Iron Sulfide and Iron (II) hydroxide on the ship.

Now I trust my teacher, and I imagine there to be no rust, but can anyone definitely assure that there is no rust on the Titanic?

Thanks in advance
 

madharris

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I'm pretty sure your teacher is right

So the anaerobic sulfur reducing bacteria use the sulfate ions in the water during respiration
Cathode: SO42-(aq) + 10H+(aq) + 8e --> H2S(aq) + 4H2O(l)

Anode: Fe(s) --> Fe2+(aq) + 2e-

As Fe2+ ions are formed at anodic sites, they can react with the H2S from the bacteria, forming iron sulphide (FeS) and H+ ions:

Fe2+(aq) + H2S(aq) <--> FeS(s) + 2H+(aq)

Therefore it produces an acidic environment, hich increases the rate of corrosion around the wreck

However there is no normal rust
 

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