Why does salt melt ice on the road?
Salt mixes with ice and makes salty water that's very hard to freeze.
Pip’s answer
- Salt mixes with ice and makes salty water that's very hard to freeze.
- Plain water freezes into ice when it gets cold enough.
- Salty water needs to get much colder before it can freeze.
- Wow-ee, a little salt turns slippery ice into wet, less slippery water!
For grown-ups
Salt dissolves into the thin layer of water on ice and creates salty water, which has a lower freezing point than pure water. This makes it harder for the water to refreeze, so the ice melts even below 0 °C. It works less well in extreme cold.
Ask your child: Shall we test whether salted ice melts faster than plain ice?
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