Unit 5: Corrosion - Practice Quiz

CHE124 — Engineering Chemistry 60 Questions
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1 Corrosion is best defined as the:

Definition and scope of corrosion Easy
A. Melting of metals at high temperatures during processing
B. Physical deformation of metals under applied mechanical load
C. Coating of metals with a protective layer of paint
D. Gradual destruction of metals by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment

2 The reddish-brown deposit formed when iron corrodes in moist air is commonly called:

Definition and scope of corrosion Easy
A. Scale
B. Rust
C. Patina
D. Slag

3 Corrosion generally occurs because most metals in nature tend to:

Definition and scope of corrosion Easy
A. Increase in mechanical strength over time
B. Return to their more stable combined (compound) form
C. Convert completely into pure gases
D. Stay permanently in their pure metallic state

4 Direct chemical corrosion is also known as:

direct chemical corrosion Easy
A. Pitting corrosion
B. Dry corrosion
C. Wet corrosion
D. Galvanic corrosion

5 Which of the following is an example of direct chemical (dry) corrosion?

direct chemical corrosion Easy
A. Rusting of iron in the presence of moist air and dissolved oxygen
B. Oxidation of a metal surface by dry oxygen at high temperature
C. Corrosion of a pipe partly buried in wet soil
D. Corrosion at the water line of a steel tank

6 In dry oxidation corrosion, a protective oxide film is one that is:

direct chemical corrosion Easy
A. Loose, porous, and easily flaked off
B. Volatile and escapes as a gas
C. Stable, tightly adhering, and non-porous
D. Liquid and flows away from the surface

7 Electrochemical corrosion requires the presence of:

Electrochemical corrosion and different mechanisms Easy
A. Ultraviolet light
B. A conducting liquid or electrolyte
C. High mechanical stress
D. Only dry gases

8 During electrochemical corrosion, oxidation of the metal takes place at the:

Electrochemical corrosion and different mechanisms Easy
A. Air-water interface only
B. Cathodic region
C. Electrolyte surface
D. Anodic region

9 In the oxygen absorption mechanism of electrochemical corrosion, which ion is formed at the cathode?

Electrochemical corrosion and different mechanisms Easy
A. Hydrogen ion,
B. Hydroxide ion,
C. Sulphate ion,
D. Chloride ion,

10 The hydrogen evolution mechanism of electrochemical corrosion generally occurs in:

Electrochemical corrosion and different mechanisms Easy
A. Completely dry environments
B. Strongly alkaline environments
C. Oil-based environments
D. Acidic environments

11 Galvanic corrosion occurs when:

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Galvanic and concentration cells Easy
A. A single pure metal is heated in dry air
B. Two dissimilar metals are in electrical contact in an electrolyte
C. A metal is painted with an inert coating
D. A metal is kept in a completely dry room

12 When zinc and copper are connected together in an electrolyte, which metal corrodes preferentially?

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Galvanic and concentration cells Easy
A. Zinc
B. Both equally
C. Copper
D. Neither metal corrodes

13 A concentration cell corrosion arises due to differences in the:

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Galvanic and concentration cells Easy
A. Melting points of two joined metals
B. Thickness of applied paint only
C. Concentration of electrolyte or oxygen at different parts of the metal
D. Colour of the metal surface

14 In differential aeration corrosion, the region exposed to a lower oxygen concentration behaves as the:

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Differential aeration corrosion Easy
A. Insulator
B. Cathode and is protected
C. Anode and corrodes
D. Electrolyte

15 Differential aeration corrosion is caused mainly by differences in the amount of:

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Differential aeration corrosion Easy
A. Oxygen reaching different parts of the metal surface
B. Carbon in the metal alloy
C. Sunlight on the metal surface
D. Applied electrical voltage

16 In a steel tank partly filled with water, water-line corrosion occurs:

Water-line corrosion and Pitting corrosion Easy
A. At the very bottom of the tank
B. Just below the water line
C. Above the water line in dry air
D. Uniformly over the whole tank

17 Pitting corrosion is characterized by:

Water-line corrosion and Pitting corrosion Easy
A. Formation of small, localized holes or pits on the metal surface
B. Bending of the metal without any material loss
C. A protective shiny film covering the metal
D. Uniform thinning across the entire surface

18 Intergranular corrosion takes place mainly:

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Intergranular and Soil corrosion and Factors affecting corrosion Easy
A. Only at the exact centre of each grain
B. Along the grain boundaries of the metal
C. On the painted outer surface only
D. In the surrounding electrolyte, not the metal

19 Which factor generally increases the rate of corrosion of a metal?

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Intergranular and Soil corrosion and Factors affecting corrosion Easy
A. A perfectly non-porous protective oxide layer
B. Completely dry surroundings
C. Higher humidity and presence of moisture
D. A highly nobler position in the electrochemical series

20 In cathodic protection using a sacrificial anode, the metal to be protected is connected to a metal that is:

Protection of corrosion Easy
A. Identical in every property to the protected metal
B. Less active than the protected metal
C. A non-metallic insulator
D. More active (more easily oxidized) than the protected metal

21 Rusting of iron in a moist environment is best classified as which type of process, considering that it involves loss of metal to its surroundings?

Definition and scope of corrosion Medium
A. A purely physical wearing away of metal by friction
B. A reversible physical adsorption of moisture on the metal surface
C. A beneficial process that strengthens the metal lattice
D. A destructive attack of metal by chemical or electrochemical reaction with its environment

22 Corrosion is often described as the reverse of extraction metallurgy. What does this statement imply thermodynamically?

Definition and scope of corrosion Medium
A. Metals gain free energy while corroding
B. Pure metals are more stable than their compounds
C. Metals tend to revert to their lower-energy combined (ore-like) state
D. Corrosion requires external energy input to proceed

23 According to the Pilling–Bedworth rule, a metal forms a protective oxide layer when the ratio of oxide volume to metal volume is:

direct chemical corrosion Medium
A. Greater than 3 in all cases
B. Always less than 1
C. Greater than or equal to 1 but not excessively high
D. Exactly equal to 0

24 Alkali metals like Na and K, and alkaline earth metals like Mg, form porous non-protective oxide films. This is because their Pilling–Bedworth ratio is:

direct chemical corrosion Medium
A. Less than 1
B. Greater than 5
C. Between 2 and 3
D. Equal to 1

25 Which of the following gases is responsible for the formation of a metal chloride during direct chemical (dry) corrosion of a metal at high temperature?

direct chemical corrosion Medium
A.
B. vapour
C.
D.

26 In the hydrogen evolution mechanism of electrochemical corrosion, what reaction occurs at the cathode in an acidic medium?

Electrochemical corrosion and different mechanisms Medium
A.
B.
C.
D.

27 In the oxygen absorption mechanism of corrosion in a neutral aerated solution, the cathodic reaction produces:

Electrochemical corrosion and different mechanisms Medium
A. gas
B. ions
C. ions
D. ions

28 During electrochemical corrosion, where does the actual loss (dissolution) of metal always occur?

Electrochemical corrosion and different mechanisms Medium
A. Uniformly over both regions
B. At the cathodic region
C. Only at the electrolyte surface
D. At the anodic region

29 When zinc and copper are electrically coupled and exposed to an electrolyte, which metal corrodes and why?

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Galvanic and concentration cells Medium
A. Copper, because it is more anodic
B. Neither, because coupling stops corrosion
C. Zinc, because it is more anodic (less noble)
D. Both corrode equally

30 A steel bolt used to join two copper plates in a marine structure corrodes rapidly. The main reason is:

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Galvanic and concentration cells Medium
A. The small anodic steel area is coupled to a large cathodic copper area
B. Steel is more noble than copper
C. Copper acts as the sacrificial anode
D. The large anodic steel area is coupled to small cathodic copper

31 In a concentration cell formed by a single metal dipped in electrolyte of two different metal-ion concentrations, corrosion occurs at the electrode in contact with:

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Galvanic and concentration cells Medium
A. The dilute (lower ion concentration) solution
B. The concentrated (higher ion concentration) solution
C. Both equally
D. Neither electrode

32 In differential aeration corrosion, which region of the metal surface becomes anodic?

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Differential aeration corrosion Medium
A. The region at the highest temperature
B. The region exposed to higher oxygen concentration
C. The region exposed to lower oxygen concentration
D. The region with maximum surface area

33 A metal partly immersed in water and partly exposed to air corrodes most severely just below the waterline. This is because:

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Differential aeration corrosion Medium
A. The submerged, less aerated part acts as the anode
B. The air-exposed part acts as the anode
C. The waterline region is fully passivated
D. Oxygen is absent throughout the metal

34 In pitting corrosion, once a small pit forms under a dirt or scale deposit, why does corrosion accelerate within the pit?

Water-line corrosion and Pitting corrosion Medium
A. The deposit supplies extra oxygen to the pit
B. The pit spreads uniformly to reduce intensity
C. The pit becomes oxygen-rich and turns cathodic
D. The pit becomes oxygen-poor and acts as a small anode against a large cathode

35 Water-line corrosion is commonly observed in steel water storage tanks. The line of attack forms because:

Water-line corrosion and Pitting corrosion Medium
A. There is no oxygen concentration difference
B. Water above the line is less aerated and becomes anodic
C. Water below the line is less aerated and becomes anodic
D. The metal above the water is fully submerged

36 Intergranular corrosion in welded stainless steel (weld decay) occurs mainly because:

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Intergranular and Soil corrosion and Factors affecting corrosion Medium
A. Excess chromium accumulates at grain boundaries
B. Iron carbide forms at the grain centres
C. The grains grow larger and become anodic
D. Chromium carbide precipitates at grain boundaries, depleting chromium there

37 Which factor generally increases the rate of soil corrosion of buried metal pipelines?

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Intergranular and Soil corrosion and Factors affecting corrosion Medium
A. Highly alkaline soil forming passive films
B. High soil moisture and dissolved salt content
C. Complete absence of dissolved ions
D. Very dry, sandy, high-resistivity soil

38 In the sacrificial anode method of cathodic protection for a buried iron pipeline, a suitable anode metal is:

Protection of corrosion Medium
A. Magnesium
B. Nickel
C. Silver
D. Copper

39 Galvanising protects iron even if the zinc coating is scratched, whereas tinning fails at a scratch. This difference arises because:

Protection of corrosion Medium
A. Zinc is anodic to iron, but tin is cathodic to iron
B. Both coatings are cathodic to iron
C. Both coatings are anodic to iron
D. Tin is anodic to iron, but zinc is cathodic to iron

40 Ceramic coatings are widely used to protect metals in high-temperature environments mainly because they:

Protection of corrosion-Ceramic coating Medium
A. React readily with oxygen to form new metals
B. Are electrically conductive and act as sacrificial anodes
C. Melt easily to seal cracks continuously
D. Are chemically inert and withstand high temperatures

41 A metal spontaneously reverts to its combined (oxide) state during corrosion. From a thermodynamic standpoint, why is corrosion of most engineering metals a spontaneous process?

Definition and scope of corrosion Hard
A. The free energy of the metallic state is lower than the oxidized state, giving
B. Corrosion is driven purely by kinetics with at all temperatures
C. Metals corrode only because atmospheric oxygen forces a non-spontaneous reaction
D. The free energy of the metallic state is higher than that of its ore-like oxidized state, giving for oxidation

42 The Pilling–Bedworth ratio (PBR) predicts protective behavior of oxide films. For a metal whose oxide has , what corrosion behavior is expected?

direct chemical corrosion Hard
A. No oxide forms at all since
B. Protective film that cracks only above
C. Non-protective, porous film because the oxide volume is insufficient to cover the metal surface
D. Highly protective, continuous film that stops further oxidation

43 In high-temperature oxidation following a parabolic rate law, the weight gain relates to time as . If the oxide layer thickness after 1 hour is , what is it after 4 hours (assuming ideal parabolic kinetics)?

direct chemical corrosion Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.

44 During electrochemical corrosion of iron in a neutral aerated solution, the anodic reaction is . What is the corresponding cathodic reaction that consumes the liberated electrons?

Electrochemical corrosion and different mechanisms Hard
A. (hydrogen evolution)
B. (oxygen evolution)
C. (oxygen absorption)
D. (metal deposition)

45 In acidic, oxygen-free (deaerated) media, corrosion of iron proceeds by which mechanism, and what characteristic evidence appears at the cathodic sites?

Electrochemical corrosion and different mechanisms Hard
A. Hydrogen evolution mechanism; gas bubbles form at cathodic areas
B. Differential aeration; rust rings form at the metal edges
C. Direct chemical attack; a dry oxide scale forms uniformly
D. Oxygen absorption mechanism; accumulates at cathodic areas

46 Two dissimilar metals are coupled in an electrolyte. In a Zn–Cu galvanic couple and an Fe–Sn couple (tin coating on iron), which combination protects the base metal and which accelerates its corrosion when the coating is scratched?

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Galvanic and concentration cells Hard
A. Neither couple shows preferential attack since both are galvanic
B. Zn accelerates corrosion of the coupled metal, while Sn protects iron even when scratched
C. Both Zn and Sn coatings sacrificially protect the underlying metal equally
D. Zn protects Cu-side steel by sacrificing itself, while scratched tin accelerates iron corrosion

47 A concentration cell forms when identical copper electrodes are placed in solutions of and . Which electrode acts as the anode?

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Galvanic and concentration cells Hard
A. The electrode in the concentrated () solution
B. Both dissolve equally as the potentials cancel
C. Neither, since identical metals cannot form a cell
D. The electrode in the dilute () solution

48 In differential aeration corrosion, which region of the metal becomes anodic and undergoes attack?

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Differential aeration corrosion Hard
A. The region with the thickest oxide film
B. The region exposed to higher oxygen concentration
C. The region exposed to lower oxygen concentration
D. Both regions corrode at equal rates

49 A steel bolt fastens two plates, leaving a tight crevice. Why does crevice corrosion, driven by differential aeration, tend to be autocatalytic and self-accelerating?

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Differential aeration corrosion Hard
A. Oxygen concentration inside the crevice rises steadily, boosting cathodic reduction there
B. Hydroxide accumulation inside the crevice passivates the anode over time
C. Metal-ion buildup inside the crevice draws in and lowers local pH, further attacking the anode
D. The crevice interior becomes cathodic, so the surrounding metal corrodes uniformly

50 In a partially filled steel water tank, corrosion is most severe just below the waterline. What is the correct explanation based on differential aeration?

Water-line corrosion and Pitting corrosion Hard
A. The area below the waterline is poorly aerated and anodic, while the well-aerated surface layer is cathodic
B. Corrosion is uniform since the whole tank contacts the same water
C. The area above the waterline is anodic due to atmospheric oxygen
D. The waterline itself corrodes because it has the highest oxygen concentration

51 Pitting corrosion is considered more dangerous than uniform corrosion despite low overall metal loss. What is the primary reason?

Water-line corrosion and Pitting corrosion Hard
A. Pitting always spreads to cover the entire surface uniformly
B. Pits form only on the surface and never deepen
C. Pitting increases the total weight of the metal, masking damage
D. Localized deep pits penetrate rapidly and can perforate a component before significant weight loss is detected

52 A dust particle sits on a stainless steel surface exposed to a chloride solution, initiating a pit. Why does the area covered by the particle become anodic?

Water-line corrosion and Pitting corrosion Hard
A. The particle increases oxygen concentration locally, making that area anodic
B. The particle raises local pH, forcing cathodic behavior around it
C. Oxygen access is blocked under the particle, creating an oxygen-deficient anodic zone by differential aeration
D. The particle physically scratches away the metal to expose the anode

53 Intergranular corrosion (weld decay) in austenitic stainless steel arises from sensitization. What microstructural change makes the grain-boundary regions anodic?

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Intergranular and Soil corrosion Hard
A. Grain boundaries gain excess chromium, becoming strongly cathodic
B. Chromium carbide precipitates at grain boundaries, depleting adjacent zones of chromium below the passivation limit
C. Carbon migrates to grain centers, leaving boundaries carbon-rich and passive
D. Iron carbide precipitates within grains, enriching boundaries with chromium

54 Which practical measure does NOT effectively prevent intergranular (weld decay) corrosion in stainless steel?

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Intergranular and Soil corrosion Hard
A. Cold-working the steel after welding to increase dislocation density
B. Solution heat treatment (quenching) to redissolve chromium carbides
C. Adding stabilizing elements like Ti or Nb to form stable carbides
D. Using low-carbon grades such as 304L or 316L

55 A buried steel pipeline runs through alternating sandy and clay soils. Why is the section in clay more likely to become anodic and corrode?

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Intergranular and Soil corrosion Hard
A. Soil type has no bearing; corrosion depends only on pipe metallurgy
B. Clay is denser and less aerated, so that section is oxygen-starved and anodic relative to the well-aerated sandy section
C. Sandy soil retains water and increases anodic dissolution in that zone
D. Clay holds more oxygen, making the pipe there strongly cathodic

56 Regarding the effect of the anode-to-cathode area ratio on corrosion rate, which condition produces the most rapid, dangerous localized attack?

Types of electrochemical corrosion-Intergranular and Soil corrosion and Factors affecting corrosion Hard
A. Large anode coupled to a small cathode, spreading current over a wide area
B. Equal anode and cathode areas, giving uniform low current density
C. Small anode coupled to a large cathode, concentrating a high current density on the small anode
D. No relation exists between area ratio and corrosion rate

57 In impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) of a buried steel tank, the structure is connected to the negative terminal of a DC source with an inert anode. How does this differ fundamentally from sacrificial anode protection?

Protection of corrosion Hard
A. ICCP uses an external power source and inert/semi-inert anodes, while sacrificial protection relies on a more active metal being consumed
B. ICCP consumes the steel structure, while sacrificial protection uses an external power source
C. Both methods make the protected metal anodic to suppress cathodic reactions
D. ICCP requires a more noble metal anode that is never consumed at all

58 Anodic (passivation) inhibitors such as chromates and phosphates are described as "dangerous" inhibitors. Why can insufficient dosing be worse than adding none?

Protection of corrosion Hard
A. Incomplete surface coverage leaves small unprotected anodes with a large cathode, causing intense localized pitting
B. Underdosing raises the pH so high that the metal dissolves as a complex
C. Low doses convert the whole surface into a uniform cathode, stopping all corrosion
D. They accelerate hydrogen evolution over the entire surface at any dose

59 Ceramic coatings (e.g., oxides, carbides, nitrides) protect metals in aggressive high-temperature environments. Which property mismatch is the most critical failure risk to control when applying a ceramic coating on a metal substrate?

Protection of corrosion-Ceramic coating Hard
A. The high electrical conductivity of the ceramic, which promotes galvanic coupling
B. A large difference in thermal expansion coefficients, which causes cracking or spalling during thermal cycling
C. The low melting point of ceramics compared to the metal substrate
D. The ductility of ceramics being higher than that of the metal

60 In an electroplating operation, a current of is passed for seconds through a copper sulphate bath. Using Faraday's laws (, atomic mass , ), what mass of copper is deposited?

Electroplating process Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.