How does the type of metal affect the melting of ice?

Answer 1

Its not exactly the metal but the metallic salt in general. in general chemistry, the van't hoff factor for that compound will affect the rate at which the melting point of the ice will decrease. the salts, such as calcium chloride, lower the melting point of ice by a certain degree related to its specific van't hoff factor. usually, a common trick is to use the number of atoms involved in the salt to approximate its factor. For example, calcium chloride, or CaCl2, has three atoms in it. So its factor is about three. This is all related to freezing point depression (courtesy of wikipedia):

ΔTf = Kf · mB where * ΔTf, the freezing point depression, is defined as Tf (pure solvent) − Tf (solution), the difference between the freezing point of the pure solvent and the solution. It is defined to assume positive values when the freezing point depression takes place. * Kf, the cryoscopic constant, which is dependent on the properties of the solvent. It can be calculated as Kf = RTm2M/ΔHf, where R is the gas constant, Tm is the melting point of the pure solvent in kelvin, M is the molar mass of the solvent, and ΔHf is the heat of fusion per mole of the solvent. * mB is the molality of the solution, calculated by taking dissociation into account since the freezing point depression is a colligative property, dependent on the number of particles in solution. This is most easily done by using the van 't Hoff factor i as mB = msolute · i. The factor i accounts for the number of individual particles (typically ions) formed by a compound in solution.