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.
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