The scientific name for salt is sodium chloride. The molecular formula for salt is NaCl with Na being sodium and Cl being chloride. It is an ionic compound with equal proportions of both ions.
Salt is one of the most common elements even outside of the kitchen table. Sodium chloride is made by evaporating seawater or brine from brine wells. This also occurs in salt lakes. Another source is the mining of rock salt, with China being the world’s main supplier followed closely by the United States. Salt can also be produced as a byproduct of potassium mining. Production of salt is easily over 279 million tons a year.
