|
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|
|
OT - drying rock salt
Doug Miller wrote:
In article
,
Evan wrote:
On Apr 27, 7:14=A0pm, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
The church has a bucket about 2/3 full of rock salt, and
water filling the bucket to just over the level of the rock
salt.
I'm not sure if it's calcium salt, or sodium salt.
Well, its not Sodium Chloride salt, or else it would have
totally dissolved in the water...
False. Sodium chloride is not infinitely soluble in water, and
neither is
any other solid. Google "saturated solution" for an explanation of the
concept.
Could be Calcium or
Magnesium...
Or it could be good old NaCl.
Not worth even worth trying to "dry it out" as the water
will have reacted with it making it a block of worthless
white powder...
Wrong again. Water doesn't react with salt, it just dissolves it.
Evaporate
the water, and you've got salt again.
Ice control chemicals are only effective
when they are able to make their intended chemical
reactions -- your ice melter being doused with water
has chemically altered it in a way to make it useless...
Strike three. Having *anything* dissolved in water lowers its
freezing point.
Sodium and calcium salts are particularly effective at doing this
because they
dissolve easily. No chemical reaction of any sort is involved. It's
just
simple solubility.Just spotted this and thought it mihgt be of interest.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/8647423.stm
|