Philosophers, writers and scientists observed corrosion and mentioned it in their writings: Pliny the elder, Herodotus, Lomonosov, Austin, Thenard, Hall, Davy and De la Rive.
The most important contributions were later made by Faraday who established a quantitative relationship between chemical action and electric current. Ideas on corrosion control started to be generated at the beginning of nineteenth century. Whitney provided a scientific basis for corrosion control based on electrochemical observation. As early as in eighteenth century it was observed that iron corrodes rapidly in dilute nitric acid but remains unattacked in concentrated nitric acid. Considerable progress towards the modern understanding of corrosion was made by the contributions of Evans, Uhlig and Fontana. Corrosion laboratories established in M.I.T., USA and University of Cambridge, UK, contributed significantly to the growth and development of corrosion science and technology as a multi disciplinary subject. In recent years, corrosion science and engineering has become an integral part of engineering education globally. (From Trakia Journal of Sciences, vol.3, № 7, 2005).
5. Read the text again. Decide whether the following statements are true or false.
1. Corrosion is the degradation of materials due to interactions with their environments.
2. A French philosopher, Pliny (AD 23-79) wrote about the iron compounds in his essay “Ferrum Corrumpitar”.
3. Faraday established a qualitative relationship between oxidising action and electric current.
4. Whitney provided a scientific basis for corrosion control based on the cathodic protection.
5. In recent years, corrosion science and engineering has disappeared in engineering education.
6. Read the text. What is its main idea?
Корро́зия (от лат. corrosio – разъедание) – это самопроизвольное разрушение металлов в результате химического или физико-химического взаимодействия с окружающей средой. В общем случае это разрушение любого материала, будь то металл или керамика, дерево или полимер. Причиной коррозии служит термодинамическая неустойчивость конструкционных материалов к воздействию веществ, находящихся в контактирующей с ними среде.
Коррозия металлов – разрушение металлов вследствие химического или электрохимического взаимодействия их с коррозионной средой. Наиболее часто при коррозии металл окисляется с образованием ионов металла, которые при дальнейших превращениях дают различные продукты коррозии. Коррозия может быть вызвана как химическим, так и электрохимическим процессом. Соответственно различают химическую и электрохимическую коррозию металлов.