[konshi]

Hi, I'm doing a chemistry project for my high school. It requires the chemical formula of Morton Light Salt so I can create a balanced equation. However, I've tried calling the Morton Salt company, emailing them, as well as searching throughout the internet, and I've still come up empty. (The Morton Salt company didn't answer the phone and didn't reply to my email.) Can anyone here please tell me the chemical formula of Morton Light Salt?
Thank you in advance 

[scfan000]

if other classes have done the same project
try asking students that have taken the same class

[Borek]

Can anyone here please tell me the chemical formula of Morton Light Salt?

Is it single compound, or a mixture? 30 seconds googling told me it is a 50/50 mix of sodium and potassium chloride, but it was some yahoo groups post so not a very realiable source.

Have you read the box?

[konshi]

I have tried asking my classmates, and none of them knew either.

Our assignment just tells us it's morton light salt. I think it's a compound.. ? I also found the sodium and potassium chloride bit, but I wasn't sure if that was correct either. 

I have a box of Morton Iodized Salt at home, but that doesn't have the chemical formula on it either. We weren't given a box of the Morton Light Salt since the balanced equation should be done on paper without an experiment.

[Borek]

Such salts are usually mixtures - my take is that iodized salt is just NaCl plus some NaI or KI added. In general you can't write a balanced equation for mixture, usually you can only write balanced equation for every individual compound of the mixture (assuming they react at all).

Sometimes chemistry of the mixture gets more complicated and more interesting, but I doubt that's the case.

Don't they have to put composition information on the box? No idea how it looks US, I think in EU it is obligatory for every food product.

[konshi]

Then would a balanced equation for a reaction between Morton Light Salt and water be possible?

[Borek]

All you can do is to write individual dissociation reactions for every individual compound (both of them to be precise).

[konshi]

So it'd be:

1 Na + 1 H2O --> 1 NaO + 1 H2

2 KCl + 1 H2O --> 1 K2O + 2 HCl

?

[Borek]

No, these are not correct. Do you know what dissociation is? Have you heard about ions and net ionic reactions, or not yet?

[konshi]

I don't know what net ionic reactions are.

[Borek]

OK, so probably you will learn about them later. As for now you probably already know that you may mark gases, solids and dissolved substances with (g), (s) and (aq) symbols - and that's all you can do. There is no other reactions then dissolution/dissociation taking place when the salt is dissolved.

[konshi]

Can you show me what the equations would be?

[Borek]

No, its your job to find out an answer

But I can give you an example. In the case of iodized salt I have mentioned earlier, there is a small addition of KI (potassium iodide, salt in many aspects similar to NaCl - sodium chloride). Dissolution of KI can be written as

KI(s) -> KI(aq)

which means: solid KI was dissolved and after the reaction was in the form of solution.

[konshi]

Then since the Morton Light Salt mixture has Sodium and Potassium Chloride in it.. would it be

Na(s) -> Na(aq)

and

KCl(s) -> KCl(aq)

?
Where does H2O come into the equation? Or would that be implied?

[Borek]

Then since the Morton Light Salt mixture has Sodium and Potassium Chloride in it..

Sorry, not sodium and potassium chloride but sodium and potassium chlorides. My typo/mistake.

KCl(s) -> KCl(aq)

This one looks OK.

Where does H2O come into the equation? Or would that be implied?

aq stands for aqua - water (in Latin).

Note that correctness of the above is highly dependent on the level of chemistry you should already know!