PROPOSAL FOR CHEMISTRY PROJECT

STPM 2016
Members:
1. Po Kian Ee
2. Maximillian Fam
3. Kiu Kwan Tai
4. Thoo Voon Keat

1.

Theme: Chemistry in daily life

Topic: The corrosion of metals
Problem statement: What is the effect of pH level on corrosion
rate?
Hypothesis:
Aim: To investigate the effect of pH level on corrosion rate.
Variables:
Manipulated variable: The pH of the solution.
Responding variable: The corrosion rate for each of the metals.
Constant variable: The volume of various type of solution used.
Method of analysis: pH
Theory: The definition of rate of corrosion is the speed at which
a metal deteriorates in specific environment. The rate, or
speed, is dependent upon environment condition as well as the
type, and condition, of the metal.
Time required:60 minutes
Cost: RM10-RM20
Materials and Apparatus:
Silver, copper, aluminium, zinc, steel strips
Sandpaper
Scissors
Forceps
15 boiling tubes
0.5mol/dm3 hydrochloric acid, HCl
Distilled water
0.5mol/dm3 potassium hydroxide solution, KOH
Electronic balance
Stopwatch
Measuring cylinder
Procedure:
Label the boiling tubes: 5 with label A, 5 with label B, and 5
with label C.

2. Fill 20ml of 0.5M hydrochloric acid, 20ml of 0.5M potassium

hydroxide and 20ml of distilled water respectively and into 5
boiling tubes A, B and C.
3. Cut the silver, copper, aluminium, zinc and steel strips into
small pieces with equal length using a pair of scissors and clean
the metal strips using sandpaper.
4. Weigh the initial mass of the 5 metals strips using an electronic
balance.
5. Put the 5 metal strips separately into 5 boiling tubes A and start
the stopwatch.
6. After 30 minutes, take out all the metals from the boiling tubes
using a pair of forceps and weigh the final mass of each metal
strips using an electronic balance.
7. Repeat step 4 and 5 by putting the 5 metals strips separately
into 5 boiling tubes B.
8. Repeat step 6 after 30 minutes.
9. Repeat step 4 and 5 by putting the 5 metals strips separately
into 5 boiling tubes C.
10.
Repeat step 6 after 30 minutes.
11.
Record the initial mass and final mass of each metals in a
table for each experiments and calculate the rate of corrosion.