Why does increased oxygen increase the rate of corrosion please helppp :) (1 Viewer)

enigma_1

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I think it's because the more oxygen you have obv it will occur faster but like I can't find it formally written anywhere. Can anyone confirm this and explain it in scientific terms? Thanks

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anomalousdecay

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Well if you have something in low supply, then it will make it difficult for the reaction to go ahead.

So imagine you have steel in a vacuum, there is no oxygen or water for the reaction to occur.

Say you had a partial vacuum then you will have a bit of oxygen but in lower concentrations than if you had the steel in an area which has a lot of oxygen in it at a higher pressure.

If you have more, then the reaction is more probable to occur in quicker time. Here's why:

So if you had a higher concentration of oxygen around the metal's surface, and hence covering a bigger surface area of the metal, then more reactions occur on the surface of the metal, so that the rate of corrosion is increased.
 

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