|
|
Article: The Amazing Rusting Aluminum: FINDINGS: Rust can hold an airplane together or dissolve it to bits.
- Article from:
- Popular Science
- Article date:
- October 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Bonnier Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Byline: Theodore Gray
Unless you are a representative of a national meteorological bureau licensed to carry a barometer (and odds are you're not), bringing mercury onboard an airplane is strictly forbidden. Why? If it got loose, it could rust the plane to pieces before it had a chance to land. You see, airplanes are made of aluminum, and aluminum is highly unstable.
Wait, isn't one of the great things about aluminum that, unlike iron, it doesn't rust? Am I talking about the same aluminum? Yes! Your aluminum pot is made of a highly reactive chemical. It simply has a trick that lets it disguise itself as a corrosion-resistant metal.
When iron ...