The fruit, the acid, and the cast iron cookware

[gonelli]

I'm just a little stuck on a chemistry homework question at the moment.

 

The question is about the use of cast iron cookware with acidic foods (such as fruits) resulting in iron(II) ions being ingested. And the question asks for a balanced ionic equation showing the formation of iron(II) ions in an acid solution.

 

I know that the iron could oxidise to iron(II) ions and lose 2 electrons, but I can't think of how to show it in an acid solution. Do all I need to show is the oxidation half equation? Or is there something more, and if so what is it?

 

Any ideas?

[gonelli]

Well, I found my answer

 

Fe (s) + 2H+ (aq) ---> Fe2+ (aq) + H2 (g)

[thedarkshade]

I don't know why nobody posted at this thread, but I'm very sure that anyone who knew stuff about your question would have helped you.

 

And gonelli, we're not suppose to give straight answers here, just hints that might be useful to you.

 

You seem to have finished what you needed, but a hint to this would have been the definition of what an acid is.

 

Since [ce]H^+[/ce] means acid, and acids in solutions give protons, then there must be something else that accepts those protons.[ce]H^+[/ce] by giving protons reaches a neutral charge state and the one that accepts the protons is charged.

 

That is what happens in your equation!