Halite vs Salt
Halite and Salt share a composition and differ on 2 measured properties — the question a reader asks about any pair of polymorphs.
Halite vs Salt
These are different kinds of thing (mineral, compound). Fewer properties mean the same thing across both, so a like-for-like reading may not be available.
Halite
NaCl
Rock salt — the only mineral people eat, and for much of history a commodity worth fighting over.
Salt
NaCl
The only rock people eat, the one mineral a human body cannot do without, and the feedstock of an industry that mostly wants the chlorine.
| Property | Halite | Salt |
|---|---|---|
| Boiling point Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | Not known | 1465 °C |
| Cleavage Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | perfect cubic in three directions at right angles | Not known |
| Crystal system Categorical values can be listed side by side but not ordered or subtracted. | cubic | cubic |
| Density | 2.16–2.17 g/cm³ | 2.17 g/cm³ higher |
| Lustre Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | vitreous | Not known |
| Melting point Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | Not known | 801 °C |
| Mohs hardness Mohs hardness is an ordinal scale: values can be ranked, but differences and ratios between them are not meaningful. | 2.5 higher | 2–2.5 |
| Molar mass Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | Not known | 58.44 g/mol |
| Refractive index Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | Not known | 1.544 |
| Streak Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | white | Not known |