- Salt does indeed dissolve in water. However, there is a maximum limit of concentration that salt can have. When the salt concentration reaches its maximum, the salty water has become saturated, meaning that the salt content in the water is so concentrated, there is not enough water left to dissolve the rest of the salt. And this would be the only time salt would not dissolve in water.
- When salt enters water, the water will cause the sodium and chloride atoms from the salt to pull apart and make the salt crystals begin to disappear. However, when the process is reversed and the water is removed by heating, the sodium and chloride atoms will begin to rejoin with each other, forming a solid matter we all know as salt. So in reality, you can never totally get rid of salt.
- The reason this happens is that the particles in salt are very strongly attracted to one another. On the other hand, with water it's the opposite. Water molecules are not as strongly attracted to each another. So when salt water is heated, the attractions between water molecules are broken down, but the attractions between salt particles are not. That is why the water molecules will begin to evaporate, leaving the salt particles behind.
- In essence, even though salt can be dissolved in water, you never truly get rid of it. It either exists in its original solid state or as a liquid solvent in water.
