Quote Originally Posted by hollohas View Post
I believe adding salt to the water will change the boiling point. Boils at a higher temperture without added pressure. Just like if you put salt on ice it melts, the salt raises the freezing point.

SA Friday, correct me if I'm wrong, seems like you payed attention in school. Thermodynamics, chemistry and the likes all make my head hurt so I have blocked those classes out of my memory as much as possible...5 years of studying engineering and I don't remember much.
Adding salt raises boiling point and lowers freezing point. These are two of the four colligative properties of aqueous solutions.

The salt disassociating on the ice causes the water on the ice to have a lower freezing point. There is also an exothermic reaction (enthalpy) involved with some salts during disassociation and this can cause the ice to melt and continue the reaction. Magnesium chloride (that's the stuff CDoT sprays on the roads here) is one type of salt that does this.

I'm currently going to Metro for a BS in Chemistry, Criminalistics concentration. I average about 40 hours a week in the science building, all of that in the chemistry wing. My Gen Chem teacher calls me a 'chemistry whore'. The more I learn the more I want. I don't always get everything right, but I'm still learning.