h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Sodium Chloride - Salt - A1048367
Author: Tango - U32077

I got this out of the FM earlier this evening, the original PR thread didn't mention anything other than editorial stuff, so I have fixed that, and made a few minor corrections.

I will be back tomorrow evening to make any changes anyone sees nessercery. (can someone tell me the spelling of that, i can never remember. )

Tango

That was fast!

It's 'necessary', by the way.

RhoMuNuQ

I only choose FM entries that don't need much work.

I expect that now the entry is readable, people will come up with lots of improvements, so my work is just beginning.

You were sitting there refreshing the PR window weren't you?

So, where are your comments you promised?

Tango

Now for some more useful of mine.

- 'Chemistry', 'Sodium', 'Chlorine' and 'Sodium Chloride' all don't need to be capitalised

- "and has an atomic weight of 22.989768g" --> "and has a relative atomic mass of 22.989768" You might also want to remove some of the digits - eight significant figures is slightly excessive!

- "Clorine ions" --> "Chloride ions"

- "and has an atomic weight of 35.4527g" --> "and has a relative atomic mass of 35.4527"

- "Giant Ionic Latice" doesn't need to be capitalised, and 'latice' has two 't's

- "Since it is composed of a metal and non-metal the ending "ide" is given to the chlorine." I think this sentence needs to be rewritten.

- *puts on pedant's hat* "seperate" --> "separate"

- "Na and Cl ions" --> "Na+ and Cl- ions"

I hope that all the nitpicking's helpful.
RhoMuNuQ

My comments are simulposted above!

I'm subscribed to PR, so when My Conversations refreshed, I saw it.

RhoMuNuQ

I'm off to correct them. Are you sure you're right about the capitalisation? GIL probably isn't, but subjects and chemicals are, AFAIK.

Tango

I'm 99% sure that they shouldn't be capitalised, except as part of a title.

RhoMuNuQ

All done, I believe.

Tango

Hi, Tango!

There are still an awful lot of typos and spelling mistakes in this, eg
Chemisty
negitively
Clorine
mannor
poisinous etc etc etc

Could you run it through a spell checker?


Azara

Nice entry Tango

Some typos:

garnih > garnish
documation > documentation
can be seen dated back to 2700 BC > lose the 'seen'
documation again
european > European
Ancient Greece > does 'ancient' need a capital? I'm not sure about that one.
native Americans > ditto 'native'
economicaly > economically
comodity > commodity
refrences > references
excreated > excreted
can not > cannot
comsumption > consumption
carbondioxide > carbon dioxide
choloride > chloride
cholride > chloride

"However, the body cannot manufacture salt on its own and must get it in some other way, usually by comsumption."
*Always* by consumption I would think. And I believe 'on its own' is unnecessary. By the way, Mina taught me about the correct way to spell necessary - 'One *c*oat and two *s*hoes'.

A brief sentence about why salt melts snow and ice in the last para (no need for detailed chemistry, just mention of it lowering the freezing point of water) would be nice. I think it would be good to break that section into paragraphs too.

Hi , another typo unless I missed it in the thread, the formula is written NaCL and should be NaCl. Also, the entry says that sodium is in group IA and chlorine is in VIIA. That's out of date, the standard international IUPAC group number is sodium in group 1 and chlorine in group 17. Aslo, Rho is quite right, the elements should not be written with capital letters, except in the title, etc.

Iridium

The entry mentions the fact that salt is essential for human life. It should also say that taking too much salt poses a risk to your heart. Most people in the Western world eat far too much salt and should in fact give up adding salt to all food, since you get enough salt from ready-made food. At first the food seems rather bland, but you get used to it and don't notice after a while.

Is it NaCl table salt that gets us in difficulties or is it salts generically speaking, including e.g. MSG, that we ought to cut down on?

DMT

Apparently a high salt diet shows no link to high BP or heart disease though a reduction in salt intake helps if you already have these conditions.

I didn't know that MSG was a salt.

I was advised by the Irish Health Education Bureau to cut down on salt, and particularly not to use sea salt, as it is very bad for you. They didn't provide any reasons. I believe sea salt is a mixture of different salts.

Another comment, the sentence:

"This compound consists of 60.663% Cl and 39.337%Na"

is a bit misleading to the unimformed as it's a 1:1 stoichiometry, I think it needs to specify the numbers as percentage by mass ie

"This compound consists of 60.663% by mass Cl and 39.337% by mass Na"

Picky I know but it makes it clearer

MSG is a salt in the sense that is a sodium ion and a singly deprotonated glutamate, but not in the same conceptual way as monatomic cations and anions like NaCl

MSG aside then, are the quacks advising against sea-salt in particular or all salts chemically speaking. Does sodium chloride pose the same health-risks as Potassium Bromide?

Also, why to they 'iodize' table salt in certain parts of the world?

DMT

Quick google later ...

http://www.saltinstitute.org/37.html

Hey Tango, useful entry

Your opening sentence though-

"The most commonly known form of salt is commonly known as table salt, or sea salt."

Is a bit awkward- how about "The most commonly encountered form of salt is usually known as table salt, or sea salt."