Effects of Salt on Ice

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Cathy Stout Period 7 Hemmer 8 December 2012 BRR – Final Copy Introduction Salt has been around since ancient times, and has many uses. One of the most important uses of salt is to deice things. Deicing is essential to winter weather, as many areas get a lot of snow and ice on the streets. Such as in the U.S, 70% of the roads are in snowy regions and receive over 5 inches of snowfall per year (“Salt”). Salt melts ice, and researchers are studying this to find out why. Because of earlier studies, researchers believe that salt does truly melt ice, and it is not just a myth. If these amounts of salt are placed on ice: no salt, 5 mL, 10 mL, 15 mL, 20 mL, and 25 mL, then the ice cube with 25 mL of salt on it will make the ice melt most. Salt as a deicer is a very curious topic, but there is a science behind it. Science Concepts One of the science concepts is the melting point. Melting point refers to the temperature at which a solid turns into a liquid. The melting point, in some circumstances, can be changed. One thing that can change the melting point is salt. When salt is applied to ice, it lowers the ice’s melting point. This means that even if the temperature is still very low, the ice can still melt. Salt melts ice because it lowers the freezing point of water around the ice. The ice melts and is unable to refreeze except at a much lower temperature. Melting point is an important concept to understand in this experiment. Another science concept is “colligative property”. A colligative property is a descriptive characteristic of a solution that depends on the number of solute molecules in a solution. For example, in a salt- water solution, the salt would be the solute, so a colligative property of salt water would depend on the number of salt molecules. There are four main properties of a solution that are colligative, and freezing point depression

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