Why is mars red?
Let’s find out why Mars is red!
Mars is the fourth planet in the solar system. Its orbit is close to Earth’s orbit and is second in size after Mercury.
When you look at Mars from Earth, you can see that it has a reddish glow. That’s why its nickname is the Red Planet.
What you need:
- Steel wool
- A bowl or plastic box
- Sand
- Water
What to do?
- Place the steel wool in the bowl.
- Cover it with sand.
- Pour water until all the sand is wet.
- Leave outside or in a warm place for at least 24 hours.
- Mix the sand.
The sand that touched the steel wool turned red!
What is happening?
The steel wool is made of thin wires of iron. When iron is exposed to oxygen in the presence of Moisture oxidation occurs and it rusts. Rust is a chemical reaction between iron and oxygen, so the gray metallic iron turns into reddish brittle iron oxide and crumbles. In our experiment, the water helped speed up the process.
The color of Mars is reddish due to a large amount of iron oxides in the ground. In the very distant past (billions of years ago) Mars had an atmosphere
And water vapor and oxygen were absorbed in the soil, which is very rich in iron caused the oxidation of the iron.
The rusty color of the iron gives the planet its reddish-brown color.
You can say that Mars is a rusty planet.
