Ways of Preventing Rusting

Rusting can be prevented in order to maintain the value of the object. It can be prevented by:

Plating: Metals that can rust can be covered by less reactive metals or non-reactive metals.

Alloying: This is the mixture of two or more metals or non-metals. Metals which cannot wear easily are melted into their molten form and are used to cover metals which rust easily. This stops the iron or alloy from rusting.

Coating: The surfaces of iron or metal are coated with paint or grease.

Cathode Protection: This is the method of protecting iron from rusting by connecting it by wires to a more reactive metal such as magnesium or zinc. This method is used when dealing with underground metallic pipe lines and tanks.

Galvanizing the Iron: This is when the iron is coated with a layer of zinc. The zinc reacts with the environment rather than the iron.