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How come rust built up on iron things looks like a thick crust, but somehow when it's removed it's like there's nothing gone from the original?

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Atomdude@lemmy.world
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Candelestine@lemmy.world
2 points

Because the rust is very fluffy, while the iron is very dense. So a very small volume of iron can turn into a large volume of rust.

The iron is disappearing though. Just slowly. You could tell if you weighed it with a sensitive scale.

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DickFiasco@lemm.ee
2 points

To add to this, rust is only about 70% iron by mass, with the remainder being oxygen. So the rust basically weighs a bit more than just the iron used to create it.

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efiler@lemmy.world
0 points

Just want to add, that rust is not pure iron oxide(? can’t do chemistry in english) but also contains water molecules

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Atomdude@lemmy.worldOP
1 point

Really? I suppose rust is stranger than I even thought.

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