10 Facts on Salts

By Philip McIntosh
Published: February 19, 2017 | Last updated: April 21, 2021

Key Takeaways

Many salts are highly soluble in water, making them good sources of nutrient elements that plants can use. Read on for more facts on salts.

Salt is simply an ionic combination between a metal and a nonmetal.
Sodium chloride (NaCl), good old table salt, is one example.
Salts are linked to acids and bases through neutralization reactions. When a strong acid and a strong base react, water and a salt are formed.
A binary salt such as NaCl or potassium chloride (KCl) consists of only two elements: a single positive ion (Na⁺, K⁺) and a single negative ion (Cl^-). Other examples of binary salts are aluminum fluoride (AlF₃), lithium chloride (LiCl), and potassium iodide (KI).
Other salts consist of one or more cations and a polyatomic anion. Examples are potassium sulfate (K2SO₄), ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃), and magnesium phosphate (Mg(H₂PO₄)^₂).
The solubility of a salt is an important property. Solubility tells us how much of a substance can be dissolved in a given volume of liquid.
Many salts are highly soluble in water, making them good sources of nutrient elements that plants can use.
Not all salts are water soluble, though. Silver chloride, barium sulfate, as well as many carbonates, are considered insoluble.
The physical properties of water change when salts are dissolved in it. These so-called colligative properties include the shifting of freezing and boiling points.
If a salt solution is saturated, no more of the solid compound will dissolve. As a result, a precipitate of undissolved material forms.

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Written by Philip McIntosh | Science & Technology Writer, Teacher

Philip McIntosh is a science and technology writer with a bachelor’s degree in botany and chemistry and a master’s degree in biological science. During his graduate research, he used hydroponic techniques to grow axenic plants. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he teaches mathematics.

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