Corrosion

The rusting of iron and the dull green film that sometimes forms on copper and brass vessels are both familiar examples of corrosion — a redox process in which a metal is gradually oxidised by atmospheric oxygen in the presence of moisture, deteriorating the metal over time. Corrosion is a genuinely important practical problem because it damages buildings, bridges and countless metal structures, so understanding rusting specifically as an electrochemical process — as this chapter's final …