Tek Tip 2sD #7 - Salt

Most spaghetti boxes call for a bit of salt.  I was once asked if that salt raised the boiling point so I tested it.  Thermometer in hand, I brought the water to a rolling boil and started adding salt.  It took a LOT of salt to see any difference on the thermometer and by that time the water was super salty.

More important to us during this season is salt we put on the roads.  A couple of days ago they tossed more salt on the roads than there was snow.  Now I have to pedal through it.

Not only does salt raise the boiling point of water, it lowers the freezing temperature.  But just like the boiling water it takes a lot of salt to melt the ice.  And there is a lower limit.

At 5 degrees this morning, the roads were too cold for the salt to work.  Salt and snow sat together in peace on the byways of Etna.

Where it's too cold for salt to work they clear the roads as best they can and use sand for traction.

Freezing point goes down.  Boiling point goes up.  Add salt to water and the temperature difference between boiling and freezing increases.