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

Hi Tango, quote density in g cm^-3 as that's how it's qouted whenever you buy anything from a chemicals supplier and how it's quoted for crytallographic info in papers

"Salts are used in highway safety, it is cheap and abundant and melts snow and ice readily. During snow storms salt is spread on roads and paths in order to prevent dangerous slippery conditions for motorists and pedestrians."

I wondered why I see all the highway-maintenance people in Spar in the winter stocking up on Cerebos and Saxa ...

... or maybe they aren't putting table-salt (as NaCl is apparently commonly known as) on the road, or indeed sea-salt, but in fact rock salt (halite, chemical composition NaCl, funnily enough).

This is the distinction in subject matter that needs to be made early on. The entry is either about table salt or NaCl.

DMT

C'mon DMT. You're being really picky with thet 'table salt' thing. Table salt *is* NaCl. If it has some impurities in it, whatever. An entry on water (H2O) will also not just deal solely and exclusively with the topic of multiple-distilled, deionized, ultra-centrifuged water. Sodium Chloride was called all those names in the past and it is commonly known as table, sea or rock salt.

Density: You could also use electron-Volts per cubic light-year.

Additional info: In my catalogue NaCl is listed as hygroscopic/irritant.

Actually this reminds me that salt-miners usually had very strong skin-problems. Might be the same reason people working with high concentrations of table salt have to wear protective suits.

HELL

Yeah, well D2O comes with a hazard sheet, daft

I maintain my position that there is a distinction to be made between Sodium Chloride and Table Salt. The entry is either about one or the other, but at present it implies that there is not. That's all.

Well, and I maintain my position that there is no difference between table salt and sodium chloride.

Similarly there is no difference between sugar and alpha-glucopyranosyl-beta-fructofuranoside.

HELL

Halite is the geological term for NaCl, ie it's the techy term for rock salt (which is often used to refer to gypsum and anhydrite as well as good old NaCl)...might be worthy of a footnote next to "as well as in underground salt deposits".

As Bossel correctly pointed out yesterday during our meet, rock salt is originally sea salt.

HELL

I agree that table salt is sodium chloride, and that it is the most commonly encountered form of the stuff. What I don't accept is that sodium chloride is otherwise known as table salt, as implied by the opening sentence of the Entry.

"rock salt is originally sea salt" true Hell - and as a geologist it's a godsend because it's only preserved in some very unusual environments so it's pretty handy
(NB some sabkha's produce halite and/or gypsum without a marine input so it isn't technically true in all cases - sorry geolgoy )

My only point was that the header talks about "Where to find it" and if you were looking on geological maps/guide books/references you wouldn't find a reference to salt or NaCl, you would find a reference to halite so it's worth putting in a translation

Well maybe a slight rephrasing of that sentence to something like this:

"Sodium chloride, also known as table salt, sea salt, halite, rock salt (etc.)..."

would help?

Because of the way you formulated your comment earlier, I got the impression that you think that the WHOLE Entry is either on table salt OR on sodium chloride.

HELL

Oops kinda simulposted that one, the answer was for DMT.

Chemistry

HELL

Yes, rephrase that opening sentence and I'm chuffed as monkeys.

Thanks.

How's about;

"Sodium chloride which is the major constutent of table salt, sea salt blablablabla..."

You would of course have to spell 'constituent' properly however

... and "blablablabla" ...

I used to have a marine aquarium and consequently bought a lot of sea salt. There are a lot of impurities in sea salt that you generally won't find in table salt. Saying that the two are the same thing is a little misleading.

NNNNNGGGGHH!!!

Give your sea salt to a chemist
Give your table salt to a chemist
Give rock salt to a chemist
Buy NaCl from a chemical supplier, give it to a chemist

Do you think he'll tell the difference? Unless he does a trace-element analysis and checks the isotopes he'll not be able to tell the difference.

Put rock salt into your aquarium
Put (non iodized) table salt into your aquarium
Buy NaCl from a chemical supplier, put it into the aquarium

Do you think the fish will notice a difference?

C'mon...

HELL

Oh BTW, what do you think your table salt is???

Sea salt.

Did you ever notice that there are salines by the coast at some regions? What do you think they extract from the sea? Where do you think does the product go?

Grmpf.

HELL

Well it wasn't me this time!