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robirahman t1_je3gp6f wrote

Reply to comment by adamginsburg in Is NaCl relatively common in the galaxy/universe? by PHealthy

What is the structure of NaCl gas? If you heat a crystal of solid NaCl at low pressure, does it sublimate into pairs of atoms?

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adamginsburg t1_je4o8a8 wrote

It has to stay stuck together as a molecule, as NaCl bonded together, to be NaCl gas, otherwise it's a mix of atomic Na+ gas and atomic Cl-. That's probably how it comes out of the dying AGB stars. Gas doesn't have structure, though. It just fills whatever vessel it's in. If that's the ISM, it just spreads out until it's pressed on by something else.

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