A Little Salt on It, Sir? Trivia Quiz

Answer: NaCl

Sodium is a very reactive alkali metal, and chlorine is a dangerous gas, but together they combine to make one of the most useful compounds known to mankind.

Iron oxide, or haematite, is a black, or in its rarer form, red crystal used in jewellery.

C7H5N3O6 is the formula for trinitrotoluene, commonly known as TNT, which is not likely to be used with food, nor is HCl, which is hydrochloric acid, and very potent stuff indeed.

Answer: Salary

'Salvation' is literally 'slave price', when slaves were bought and sold for salt, 'saltpetre' is the 'salt of Petra', a city in present-day Jordan. The Italian sausage, salami, means 'spiced (or salted) meat'. Even the word 'salad' comes from 'salt'- salted vegetables was a popular dish in ancient Rome.

Salary is from the Latin 'salarium', and comes from the fact that ancient Roman soldiers were paid in salt.

Answer: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks

The SALT conferences were held in the early 1970s between Nixon (and later Ford) and Brezhnev, and later in the same decade between Carter and Brezhnev. The talks, and subsequent treaties called START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), restricted both superpowers to certain numbers of long range missiles. I wonder why they did not call the treaties STOP.

Answer: To absorb moisture

There is nothing more frustrating than finding a salt shaker with the contents bound into a solid lump. The rice attracts any moisture in the air, and allows the salt to flow freely.

As far as I am aware, there is no such thing as a salt-weevil.

Answer: Looked back at the destruction of the evil city of Sodom

The story is told in the book of Genesis, chapters 11-14. Her name was unknown.

Other Biblical references to salt include 'salt of the Earth', referring to a humble person. Mark 9 gives us "Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid, with what will you restore its flavor?".

Salt is also used in sumo wrestling, as the Shinto ceremony for purifying the ring. Muhammad mentioned salt as one of the Four Blessings from the sky- the other three are fire, water and iron.

Answer: Julian Lennon

'Saltwater' found its way to the top of the Australian charts and was Top 10 on Britain.

Answer: Throw a pinch over your left shoulder

If you do this, you will hit the demons in the eye, according to French tradition. Leonardo da Vinci's 'Last Supper' shows Judas Iscariot spilling a container of salt on the table- a sign of things to come for him, perhaps?

Did you know that you can even make your own salt? All you need is some salty water, a shallow container such as a baking tray, and some sunlight. Simply pour a thin depth of brine into the tray and leave it in the sun until the water evaporates. You can hurry your experiment along, if you like, by using a heat source such as a stove, but be careful not to burn the tray!

Answer: Rainfall

Rainwater is almost pure water, and would only contain minuscule amounts of other substances.

The concentration of salt in sea water varies enormously, from less than 3% near river mouths to over 30% in the Dead Sea.

Salt pans are where extreme evaporation has eliminated the water, leaving only minerals behind. It is possible to 'harvest' almost pure salt from these areas. Evaporation ponds are usually man-made, and are situated in areas of high evaporation, and also close to a source of salty water. The beautifully-named Useless Loop salt pond in Western Australia is a good example of this type of extraction.

Underground mining is carried out in many countries worldwide, and has been for thousands of years. The Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland, and the Siberian salt mines (and punishment camps) are probably the best known.

Answer: Veruca

Veruca Salt is a spoilt little brat, who gets her own way by throwing temper tantrums, and abusing all and sundry. Understandably, Wonka gets annoyed (in his own inimitable style), and Veruca gets rejected as a 'bad egg'.

Answer: De-icing roads

Salt can be used for all these things, and so many more. It is used in the making of soap, its crystals are used in optometry, it is a great cleanser of metallic items, glass and ceramics, and it will even make cut flowers last longer in a vase.

It is also vital for the human body, however, an excess of salt may be harmful.