What happens when you put salt on snow?
I'm not the expert on this as I live down South. But salt does
nothing to snow or ice. It is only after the snow or ice melts and
becomes water THEN the salt lowers the freezing point of the
water(now a solution) so that it will not re-freeze. Salt could
provide some traction when sprinkled on the ice just as sand would.
It depends what kind of salt you are using. Ordinary Sodium
Chloride sprinkled on ice will first steal energy when it
dissolves, thus cooling the ice and increasing friction. Remember
that ice isn't slippery at all, it is the water film on it that
lubricates it. After it is dissolved however, it is true that it
lowers the freezing point.
I believe the most common salt for salting roads is Calcium
Chloride, and this behaves a little differently. I'm no expert on
this salt, but I do drive on salted roads, and it seems to get
right down to business and melt the ice. Perhaps it gives off heat
when it dissolves.
But when salting roads it is never wise to salt snow. It is very
important to clear as much of the snow as possible, because salted
snow becomes a slush that is extremely slippery. == ==
