4/20/2004: Woman collects rust

[linknoid]

Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
I remember reading somewhere, 2 tons of steel will produce 3 tons of rust, but it didn't say why. I've always been curious about that, but don't have a clue how I would find out.

Simple chemistry. Pure steel is made of iron and carbon. When it rusts, it adds oxygen to the mix. So what your quoted statistic is saying is that for every 2 parts (by weight) iron and carbon in rust (carbon makes up about 5%, I think), there's one part oxygen.