Can salt lower the freezing point of substances and make them harder to melt?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the effects of salt on the freezing point of substances, particularly in the context of making ice cream and melting snow on roads. Participants explore the implications of freezing point depression and its practical applications.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses confusion about how adding salt to ice cream lowers the freezing point and whether this makes the ice cream harder to make.
  • Another participant clarifies that adding salt to roads lowers the freezing point of water, allowing snow and ice to melt more easily at temperatures that would normally freeze water.
  • A different participant explains that the addition of salt allows the water to reach temperatures below 0°C, which is beneficial for making ice cream as it can freeze the mixture effectively.
  • One participant references Raoult's law, suggesting that the melting point decrease can be calculated and is related to colligative properties.
  • A participant shares a personal experiment involving making ice cream with salt and ice, detailing the process and the effects of colligative properties on the freezing point.
  • Another participant notes that if the freezing point of a substance is decreased, the solid will melt at the same temperature where it would not have melted without the mixture.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that adding salt lowers the freezing point of water, making it easier to melt snow and beneficial for making ice cream. However, there is some confusion regarding the implications of these effects, particularly in the context of ice cream production.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about the mechanisms involved in the ice cream-making process and the specific temperatures achieved when salt is added to ice. There is also a lack of consensus on the clarity of the explanations provided.

MercuryRising
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im confused...
we add rock salt to ice cream to lower freezing point. but how dose that help in making ice cream?
and when we add salt to the snow on the streets in order to melt them, dosent that also lowers the freezing point? dosent that makes the snow harder to melt?
thanks
 
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Adding salt to the road does indeed lower the freezing point of water. Simpler explained, as a result, water would freeze say, at -1 or -2 C instead of 0 C, and some of the snow/ice would melt at the prevailing temperature.

So actually, it makes the snow easier to melt...

Although I do not know how salt makes ice cream easier to make...
 
Since adding salt to the water lowers its freezing point, it is easier to make ice cream like that since the water can get colder.
 
Raoult's law deals with these properties; boiling point elevation and its reverse effect, i.e., melting point decrease can be calculated by applying some formulae.
 
MercuryRising said:
im confused...
we add rock salt to ice cream to lower freezing point. but how dose that help in making ice cream?
and when we add salt to the snow on the streets in order to melt them, dosent that also lowers the freezing point? dosent that makes the snow harder to melt?
thanks

Since the road part was explained nicely, no comment on that.
For the addition of salt to ice cream, I have done an experiment myself in school and made some vanilla icecream :smile: . I am unclear on how your experiment was designed, but procedure I used at my school was to add a shlt of salt into a big ziplock bag of ice(thus causing the ice to melt, but maintaining the temperature below 0 due to the colligative properties), then add a bag of melted vanilla icecream inside the salted ice bag, and wait for the vanilla icecream material to freeze. This occurs because the salted ice water probably is -5 degrees celsius or below 0 degree celsius anyhow, and the vanilla incecream material probably has a freezing point around 0, and this will cause the vanilla icecream to freeze, (not completely rock solid but with an icecream texture). This shows you how effective colligative properties are and allows you to make icecream on your own, rather than using machines to maintain a constant temperature below 0.
If you are thinking.. "why not put the vanilla icecream mixture into the freezer and freeze it, because it will freeze the mixture like a rock solid thing, which you do not want and will not have the rich texture of good icecream.
 
If the freezing point of the substance is decreased the solid, willl now melt at the same temperature in which the non-mixture did not.
 

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