Making Cars – Revision Packs (C2)
Rusting and Corrosion:
Only iron and steel can rust; all other metals will corrode.
Acid rain and salt water will accelerate the rate of rusting; you
see a lot of rusting iron or steel on sea fronts because the salt
water from the sea accelerates the rusting.
Rusting is an oxidation reaction because iron reacts with
oxygen to form an oxide.
Aluminium does NOT rust in moist air because it has a
protective layer of aluminium oxide which does NOT flake off
the surface like rust does.
The word equation for rusting is:
Iron + Oxygen + Water  Hydrated Iron (III) Oxide
REMEMBER – different metals will corrode at different rates.
Materials Used in Cars:
Glass composite / glass
with plastic is used for the
windscreen because it is
transparent (see-through)
and shatterproof (but it
may crack).
Aluminium is used for the
car body because it has
a low density, is
malleable (can be
shaped easily) and does
NOT corrode. Some car
companies use iron or
steel because they are
malleable and strong.
Plastic is used in
dashboards and
dials because it is
cheap, rigid and
doesn’t corrode.
Fibre is used for
car seats
because it can
be woven into
textiles and dyed.
It is also hardwearing.
PVC is used for the
copper wire coverings
because they are
flexible, do not react
with water and are
electrical insulators.
Copper is used in the
electrical wires because it
is ductile (can be drawn
out into a thin wire) and
most importantly, a good
electrical conductor.
Lead is used lead-acid
batteries because the
reaction with lead oxide
creates electricity.
Making Cars – Revision Packs (C2)
Alloys are mixtures of elements, at least one of which is a metal. They often have
more useful properties than the metals they are made from. An example of an alloy
is steel which is made of iron and about 1% carbon; it is more useful than iron
because:
-
It is harder and stronger
It is less likely to corrode/rust than iron
You can build car bodies from aluminium or iron/steel. There are advantages and
disadvantages of both:
Metal
Aluminium
Advantages
It is lighter (low density) so fuel economy is improved.
It doesn’t corrode as quickly; this means the car body will
last longer.
Iron/Steel
It is very cheap.
It is much stronger, and as such less damage is caused in
accidents to the car and driver.
Recycling:
Many people believe that materials from old cars should be recycled for new cars.
There are laws which specify that a certain percentage of materials used to build
new cars must have been recycled in an attempt to help protect the environment.
Advantages
- Less mining happens, so more
finite resources are preserved
- Less crude oil needed to make
new plastics
- Less waste means that less landfills
have to be built
- Fewer toxic materials, like lead
from car batteries, are dumped
Disadvantages
- Fewer mines are built and there
are thus less mining jobs
- The process of separating the
materials is difficult
- The separating processes may
cause pollution
- Some of the recycling processes
are extremely pricey
Making Cars – Revision Packs (C2)
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