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10.3.1Corrosion and its prevention

AQA GCSE Chemistry (8462), Higher tier · Using resources › Using materials

Practise Corrosion and its prevention. 15 exam-style questions on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.

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Quick recall

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Name the brown / orange compound formed when iron rusts.
hydrated iron(III) oxide

Sample questions

Written for this site in the style of AQA exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.

Question 1Easy4 marks
(a) What is corrosion?[1]
(b) Name the two substances that are needed for iron to rust.[2]
(c) Which method of preventing rusting provides sacrificial protection?
Tick (✓) one box.[1]
  • Greasing
  • Painting
  • Galvanising with zinc
  • Plating with tin
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
  • the destruction of materials by chemical reactions with substances in the environment
(b)
  • air / oxygen
  • water
(c) Answer: Galvanising with zinc
Question 2Medium5 marks
A student set up three test tubes, each containing an iron nail.
  • Tube A: the nail in tap water, open to the air.
  • Tube B: the nail in water that had been boiled and cooled, with a layer of oil on top.
  • Tube C: the nail in air with anhydrous calcium chloride, with a stopper in the tube.
After one week, only the nail in tube A had rusted.
(a) Why was the water in tube B boiled?[1]
(b) Why was a layer of oil put on top of the water in tube B?[1]
(c) What was the purpose of the anhydrous calcium chloride in tube C?[1]
(d) What do the results show about rusting?
Explain your answer.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
  • to remove dissolved air / oxygen
(b)
  • to stop air / oxygen dissolving in the water again
(c)
  • to absorb water (vapour) / to keep the air dry
(d)
  • both air / oxygen and water are needed for rusting
  • the nail with both air and water (A) rusted, but the nail without air (B) and the nail without water (C) did not
Question 3Hard7 marks
Iron can be protected from rusting by coating it with other metals.
(a) Galvanised iron is coated with zinc.
Explain how the zinc protects the iron from rusting, even when the zinc coating is scratched.[3]
(b) Steel food cans are coated with tin. Tin is less reactive than iron.
Explain what happens if the tin coating is scratched.[2]
(c) Blocks of magnesium are attached to the steel hulls of ships.
Explain why the blocks must be replaced regularly.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
  • zinc is more reactive than iron
  • so zinc reacts / corrodes instead of the iron (sacrificial protection)
  • so exposed iron does not rust while zinc remains
(b)
  • tin only acts as a barrier / does not give sacrificial protection
  • so the exposed iron rusts (once air and water reach it)
(c)
  • magnesium is more reactive than iron, so it corrodes instead of the steel
  • so the magnesium is gradually used up

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