i am doing a science fair project on which snow melter is worse for plants and i need the backgroung knowledge about both substances i am testing with. can anyone help?
2006-12-13 12:23:47 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
they dont really melt the snow persay...just lower the freezing point of water, so that by adding them to ice, causes it to not be cold enough to stay frozen.
EDIT: its all a chemical reaction, just like adding salt to ice when your making home made ice cream, it allows the temperature to drop much colder and freeze the ice cream quicker, but when you apply the salt to ice on the sidewalk, it lowers the freezing point, essentially making it look like it melted the ice (which it technicall did) it just didnt heat it up to melt it
2006-12-13 12:31:14 · answer #1 · answered by trboprelude12 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Salt, I think you are referring to sodium chloride, because magnesium chloride is a salt as well.
The scientific definition of a "salt" is a compound with ionic bonds that is the leftover of an acid base reaction. Water is the other thing made.
The way salt (any salt) works to melt snow is that it lowers the melting (freezing) point for water to keep the crystals from forming.
Salt also conducts electricity when it is in water because the water makes the ionic bonds weaker to form electrolytes.
The reason salt is not good for plants is because it dehydrates the plant, causing it to die.
2006-12-13 12:48:48 · answer #2 · answered by coridroz 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋