Salt

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Salt may also refer to table salt (sodium chloride) or iodised salt.

Salt crystal
Salt crystal

In chemistry, a salt is any neutral chemical compound made of cations (positive ions) bound to anions (negative ions). The main type of salt is sodium chloride.

Solutions of salts in water are called electrolytes. Electrolytes, as well as molten salts, conduct electricity.

Salts can melt ice

Contents

[edit] Table Salt

Edible salt, usually called just salt, is a flavour enhancer, comprising primarily of sodium chloride, and is one of the few minerals commonly eaten by humans. There are different forms of edible salt: unrefined salt (such as sea salt), refined salt (table salt), and iodised salt. It is a crystalline solid, white, pale pink or light grey in color, normally obtained from sea water or rock deposits. Natural sea salt includes vital trace minerals in addition to the sodium chloride. Edible rock salts may be slightly greyish in color due to this mineral content.

Sodium and chlorine, the two components of salt, are necessary for the survival of all living creatures, including humans, but they need not be consumed as salt, where they are found together in very concentrated form. Some isolated cultures, such as the Yanomami in South America, have been found to consume little salt.[1] Salt is involved in regulating the water content (fluid balance) of the body. Salt flavor is one of the basic tastes. Salt cravings may be caused by trace mineral deficiencies as well as by a deficiency of sodium chloride itself.

Overconsumption of salt can increase the risk of health problems, including high blood pressure. In food preparation, salt is used as a preservative and as a seasoning.

[edit] Getting table salt

There are different ways in which table salt can be gotten:

This standard applies to salt used as an ingredient of food, both for direct sale to the consumer and for food manufacture. It applies also to salt used as a carrier of food additives and nutrients.

[edit] History

The first records of salt being used came from 4000 B.C. Back then, salt was worth a lot because it could be used on foods to give them flavor and make them last longer, so people traded salt for things often. In Ancient Rome, salt was even used for money. This is where the word salary came from, because they paid people in salt. Eventually, some people called the Phoenicians figured out how to get lots of salt from the ocean, so salt became less expensive.

[edit] Looks

Color Salts can appear to be clear and transparent (sodium chloride), opaque (titanium dioxide), and even metallic and lustrous (iron disulfide). In many cases the apparent opacity or transparency are only related to the difference in size of the individual monocrystals. Since light reflects from the phase boundaries, larger crystals tend to be transparent, while poly-crystalline aggregates look like white powders. Of course, some salts are inherently opaque.

Salts exist in all different colors, e.g. yellow (sodium chromate), orange (potassium dichromate), red (mercury sulfide), mauve (cobalt chloride hexahydrate), blue (copper sulfate pentahydrate, ferric hexacyanoferrate), green (nickel oxide), colorless (magnesium sulfate), white (titanium dioxide), and black (manganese dioxide). Most minerals and inorganic pigments as well as many synthetic organic dyes are salts.