If someone at the dinner table said, "Pass the rocks, please," what would you give him ?
Salt, of course !
The salt we use to make food taste better is a mineral called halite. Big lumps of halite are found in the earth's crust. The halite is dug out in chunks and crushed up small enough to fit through the hole in a saltshaker. Halite forms in square crystals. No matter how small it crushed, it nearly always breaks into the shape of a cube !
Sometimes, a hole is dug down to salt that is in the earth. Water is forced down into the salt, then pumped back up with salt in it. The water is then heated. When it dries up, crystals of pure salt are left. Salt is removed from seawater in much the same way.
We need salt to keep healthy, and, of course, salt makes our food taste better. So salt has always been very important to people. In ancient times, salt was so precious and hard to get that it was used as money ! The soldiers of ancient Rome were given salt as part of their pay. This part of their pay was called the salarium. Our word salary, which is another word for pay, comes from the Latin word salarium. A man who was not a very good soldier was "not worth his salt." We still say this today about people who don't do a good job for the money they are paid.
Salt, of course !
The salt we use to make food taste better is a mineral called halite. Big lumps of halite are found in the earth's crust. The halite is dug out in chunks and crushed up small enough to fit through the hole in a saltshaker. Halite forms in square crystals. No matter how small it crushed, it nearly always breaks into the shape of a cube !
Sometimes, a hole is dug down to salt that is in the earth. Water is forced down into the salt, then pumped back up with salt in it. The water is then heated. When it dries up, crystals of pure salt are left. Salt is removed from seawater in much the same way.
We need salt to keep healthy, and, of course, salt makes our food taste better. So salt has always been very important to people. In ancient times, salt was so precious and hard to get that it was used as money ! The soldiers of ancient Rome were given salt as part of their pay. This part of their pay was called the salarium. Our word salary, which is another word for pay, comes from the Latin word salarium. A man who was not a very good soldier was "not worth his salt." We still say this today about people who don't do a good job for the money they are paid.
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