RE: Brine shrimp salt

["Brian R. Watters" <bwatters at sk_sympatico.ca>]

Wright Huntley wrote:

>
> David_Koran at HQ02.USACE.ARMY.MIL wrote:
> > The anti-caking agent is just sodium silicate, i.e., sand.
>
> No, Dave, it is a very different form of sodium silicate than most sand,
> which is relatively large crystals.
> It is a "foamy" form, also known as
> silica gel, that is used for anticaking in table salt
>

To put my geologist's cap on.......

The word "sand" does not make any reference to the composition of the
material. Rather, it is a term that refers to material that falls within a
certain grain size category, regardless of composition.

Having said that, most "sand" tends to be rich in grains of quartz, a
mineral that has the elemental composition of SiO2 (Silicon + Oxygen), and
that's it. If the Silicon-Oxygen molecule combines with other elements, such
as Sodium, then you get other silicate minerals such as Sodium Silicate
(which, incidentally, is not a very common naturally occurring mineral).

Silica gel is something quite different, i.e. an amorphous, porous form of
polysilicic acid

___________________________________________
Brian R. Watters
University of Regina
Regina, Sask. S4S 0A2, Canada
Ph: (306) 584-9161 (home); (306) 585-4663 (work)
Fax: (306) 585-5433
E-mail: bwatters at sk_sympatico.ca


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