INTRODUCTION TO THE COMMON SALT: NACL BY: ECEM DILMAÇ 10/B

INTRODUCTION Common salt is a mineral substance composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of ionic salts; salt in its natural form as a crystalline mineral is known as rock salt. Salt is present in vast quantities in the sea where it is the main mineral constituent. Salt is essential for animal life, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes.

PHYSICAL DATA Melting point: 801 o C Boiling point: 1439 o C (decomposes) Water solubility: 3570 g/l water

PROPERTIES Sodium chloride is readily soluble in water and insoluble or only slightly soluble in most other liquids. It forms small, transparent, colorless to white cubic crystals. Sodium chloride is odorless but has a characteristic taste. It is an ionic compound, being made up of equal numbers of positively charged sodium and negatively charged chloride ions. When it is melted or dissolved in water the ions can move about freely, so that dissolved or molten sodium chloride is a conductor of electricity; it can be decomposed into sodium and chlorine by passing an electrical current through it.

DAILY LIFE USES used directly for snow and ice control as a food preservative and flavoring agent as a reagent for water softening as a mineral in animal diets

INDUSTRIAL USES In metal cleaners To bleach paper Used to manufacture glass, soaps, paper, and water softeners.