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Chemical properties

The chemical properties of salt help us understand its beneficial uses. The chemical formula for salt, sodium chloride, is 60.663% elemental chlorine (Cl) and 39.337% sodium (Na). Chlorines atomic weight is 35.4527; for sodium, 22.989768.

What is salt? Sodium chloride or common salt is the chemical compound NaCl, composed of the elements sodium and chloride. Salt occurs naturally in many parts of the world as the mineral halite and as mixed evaporites in salt lakes. Seawater has lots of salt; it contains an average of 2.7% (by weight) NaCl, or 26 million metric tons per cubic kilometer, an inexhaustible supply (note: seawater also contains other dissolved solids; salt represents about 77% of the Total Dissolved Solids). Underground salt deposits are found in bothbedded sedimentary layers and domal deposits . Deposits have been found to have encapsulated ancient microorganisms including bacteria. Some salt is on the surface, the dried-up residue of ancient seas like the famed Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Salt even arrives on earth from outer space in meteors and its presence on the planet Mars makes scientists think life may exist there (in fact, scientists speculate that salt-loving bacteria live in underground water on Mars -- as they have survived in suspended animation for 250 million years in Texas ). Conversely, surface salt depositions and man-made saltworks can be seen from space. In ocean coastal areas, saltwater can "intrude" on underground freshwater supplies , complicating the lives of those who provide our drinking water supplies. Sodium chloride crystals are cubic in form. Table salt consists of tiny cubes tightly bound together through ionic bonding of the sodium and chloride ions. The salt crystal is often used as an example of crystalline structure. Many online science pages offer instruction

ongrowing salt crystals . Other graphics of salt crystals are also available online. Different types of crystal have different uses, as for food

Where does salt come from? There's a huge amount of salt in the world -- about 3.5% of the weight of the world's oceans plus massive underground (and underwater) deposits History of Salt Most people probably think of salt as simply that white granular food seasoning found in a salt shaker on virtually every dining table. It is that, surely, but it is far more. Salt is an essential element in the diet of not only humans but of animals in general. It is one of the most effective and most widely used of all food preservatives (and used to preserve Egyptian mummies as well). Its industrial, medical and other uses are almost without number. In fact, salt has great current as well as historical interest , and is even the subject of humorous cartoons , music , "art " and poetry .

What is "solution mining"? Solution mining of salt is the extraction of salt using fresh and recycled water injected through a well (or wells) into an underground salt bed or salt dome , usually between 150 and 1,500 meters (500 to 5000 feet) deep. Dissolution of the salt forms a void or cavern in the salt deposit. Salt brine is withdrawn from the cavern and transported by pipeline to an onsite evaporating plant to make dry salt, or to a chemical processing plant for chloralkali or other chemical production

Why do we use salt in cooking and food processing? Human dietary consumption is a major market for salt. Salt serves many purposes . Salt is the world's oldest known food additive and no decent kitchen would be without salt . People use many types of sodium chloride in food processing , cooking (see pg 640 ff) or at the table -- at home or in restaurants . Each makes its unique contribution . Besides contributing its own basic "salty" taste, salt has many benefits . It brings out natural flavors and makes foods acceptable, protects food safety by retarding the growth of spoilage microorganisms, gives proper texture to processed foods, serves as a

control agent to regulate the rate of fermentation in food processing strengthens gluten in bread, provides the color, aroma and appearance consumers expect and is used to create the gel necessary to process meats and sausages. As a result, more heavily processed foods usually contain more sodium and salt.