Does cast iron rust under water?

Dec 19, 2006 26 Replies

Railroad tracks are steel. Iron would be too brittle - it would shatter the first time a train rolled over it in sub-zero weather.

I'm corrected... a rail road track (steel) section would make a good mooring, if they OP can acquire some.

-- Oren

"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."

It certainly is not be as strong as steel track, but thousands of miles of cast iron track were laid in this country before steel track became practical to produce.

replying to Toller, Ventcg wrote: Water is 2 parts hydrogen, 1 part oxygen no matter how deep it is.

I don't know why you people never quote anything. I can't tell if your answer is relevant.

The oxygen in the H20 is not what would make iron rust. It's bound to the hydrogen. It's the dissolved oxygen, the same thing the fish breathe, that would cause rust.

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"Solubility decreases as temperature increases"

But it increases as depth and pressure increase:

" Solubility increases as pressure increases Pressure is determined by atmospheric and hydrostatic factors Altitude and depth affect solubility Saturation is often defined for a particular depth by adjusting for pressure Pressure reduces the amount of bubble formation"

11 years. How do they look now? My bet is they are doing their job.

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