Determination of the Amount of Oxide on the Surface of Iron and Steel by Reduction

An apparatus and procedure are described for the determination of the amount of oxide on the surface of iron or steel by reduction. This method has certain advantages over other methods, it being the only one affording an unambiguous oxygen measurement on a prepared specimen, such as commercial sheet. Its precision is sufficient to permit work on films formed in air at room temperature–and its accuracy is good, as judged by reduction of a known weight of oxide and by comparison with other methods. Some results on air-formed films are reported.