Quotation

Rust

the Longest War
The most noble metals—gold, platinum, iridium, palladium, osmium, silver, rhodium, and ruthenium—are also the most valuable, and this is no coincidence. They’re valuable because they’re reliable. They don’t corrode. The nobility of a metal is measured in volts, from 1.18 (platinum) to -1.6 (magnesium). === if a pipeline operator pushed 0.85 volts into his buried pipeline, he could convince the electrons in the steel not to be lured elsewhere. === The fourth arm is sort of a modern version of paint. Inhibitors, binding to metal before oxygen has a chance to, work just as well in abetting a brown outcome. Many are synthetic, but they’ve been made from mangos, Egyptian honey, and Kentucky tobacco. Anodizing—intentionally oxidizing the surface of aluminum by dipping it in acid and applying current—works because the thick oxide layer is then sealed with an inhibitor. Electroplating with a metal more durable than zinc—cadmium, chromium, nickel, or gold—is sort of the rich-man’s galvanizing.