Corrosion of Iron - Flinn Sci
The rusting process consists of sev-eral steps. In the first step, iron is oxidized to iron(II) ions, Fe2+, and oxygen from the air is reduced to hydroxide ions, OH–. This oxidation–reduction reaction takes place via two separate half-reactions (Equations 1 and 2). Oxidation half-reaction: Fe(s) → Fe2+(aq) + –2e Equation 1