Road salt
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Road salt is a salt used mainly as an anti-slip and deicing agent for roads, sidewalks and other transportation surfaces during the winter. The most commonly used form is sodium chloride, though other
An Econ-brand salt spreader spreading salt on a road during the 2010 UK winter.
Bulk carrier unloading road salt in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Storage tank for road salt in Puente de los Hocinos, Spain
Road salt storage depot in Lamure-sur-Azergues (Rhône, France)
Freezing-point depression
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Freezing-point depression is a drop in the maximum temperature at which a substance freezes, caused when a smaller amount of another, non-volatile substance is added. Examples include adding salt into
Workers spreading salt from a salt truck for deicing the road
Freezing point depression is responsible for keeping ice cream soft below 0 °C.
Pre-treating roads with salt relies on the warmer road surface to initially melt the snow and make a solution; Pre-treatment of bridges (which are colder than roads) does not typically work.
Dissolved solutes prevent sap and other fluids in trees from freezing in winter.