Salts are ionic compounds, have a salty taste and are solid. Characteristics of salts:
1 - Conduct electric current when in solution.
2 - Salts taste salty.
3 - Salts react with acids, hydroxides, other salts and metals.
4 - When reacting with an acid, they give rise to another salt and another acid, if the acid formed is more volatile than the one used in the reaction.
5 - When they react with hydroxide, they give rise to another salt and another hydroxide, if the hydroxide formed is less soluble than the one used in the reaction.
6 - If they react with other salts, they give rise to two new salts if one of them is less soluble than the reagents.
7 - And finally, when they react with a metal, they give rise to a new salt and a new metal, if the reacting metal is more reactive than the metal displaced in the reaction.
Main salts and their uses:
Sodium Bicarbonate (NaHCO3) --> It is used in medications that act as stomach antacids. It is also used as a yeast in the manufacture of breads, cakes, etc., as it releases heated carbon dioxide, which allows the dough to grow. It is even used to manufacture foam fire extinguishers.
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Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3)--> Component of marble, it is used in the manufacture of floors, sinks, etc. Calcium carbonate (limestone) is also used in the manufacture of common glass and cement.
Calcium Sulfate (CaSO4) --> It is a salt used in the manufacture of chalk and porcelain plaster.
Sodium Chloride (NaCl) --> This salt is intensively used in food and also in the preservation of certain foods; in addition, it is one of the components of homemade serum, used to combat dehydration. In table salt, in addition to sodium chloride, there is a small amount of sodium iodide (Nal) and potassium (Kl). This prevents the body against goiter or "crop", a disease characterized by an overgrowth of the thyroid gland, when the diet is deficient in iodine salts.
Sodium Fluoride (NaF) --> It is a salt used in the fluoridation of drinking water and as an anti-caries product, in the manufacture of toothpaste.
Sodium Nitrate (NaNO 3) --> Known as Chilean saltpeter, this salt is one of the most common nitrogenous fertilizers.
By Líria Alves
Graduated in Chemistry
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SOUZA, Líria Alves de. "Salts"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/quimica/sais.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.