Ferric Oxide

What Does Ferric Oxide Mean?

Ferric oxide is one of the oxides of iron. It is also known as iron (III) oxide and its chemical formula is Fe₂O₃. It is an inorganic compound. The other two oxides of iron are iron (II) oxide having the chemical formula FeO and iron (II,III) oxide having the chemical formula Fe₃O₄.

Corrosionpedia Explains Ferric Oxide

Ferric oxide is sometimes called rust because it shares physical and chemical composition properties similar to rust or corrosion. The chemical structure of ferric oxide has iron (Fe) in the center bound to six oxygen ligands. Ferric oxide occurs in various polymorphs such as:

• Alpha phase, naturally occurs as the mineral hematite.
• Gamma phase, naturally occurs as the mineral maghemite.
• Beta phase
• Epsilon phase

Ferric oxide is one of the main source of iron for the steel industry.

Some of the properties of ferric oxide are:

• Chemical formula – Fe₂O₃
• Molar Mass – 159.69 gram per mol
• Color – Reddish brown
• Odor – Odorless
• Density – 5.242 gram per cubic cm
• Solubility – Insoluble in water