User:Carolfrog/Salt crystal lamps

A salt crystal lamp

Salt crystal rocks are natural formations that are used in lamps and candles. They are sold as natural air ionizers, and are believed to improve the air quality in a room by enriching the air with negative ions.

Mined in Europe and Asia, salt crystals emit a soft glowing light and are hand-carved. Many believe that heated salt crystals' emission of negative ions into the air gives the feeling of being on the beach, on a mountain top, or near a waterfall.

Neil Nedley has written that "...the introduction of negative ion generation increased the subjective rating of alertness, atmospheric freshness, and environmental and personal warmth. Fresh country air has negative ions that have been demonstrated to both treat and prevent depression."^[1]

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  A salt crystal lamp
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  A close-up

Notes

GAMMA Salt Cristals, Ltd.direct manufacturers and worldwide exporters,offering a complete line of himalayan salt crystal products, for a healtier and natural living. Full Moon Gifts offers a complete range of salt lamps, salt tealights, bath/message and table salt for health concious people.

1. ^ Neil Nedley, Depression: The Way Out (Ardmore, OK: Nedley Publishing, 2002).

[[Category:Therapy]] [[Category:Ions]] [[Category:Lamps]]

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Salt

Salt Crystal Rocks improve air qualities by enriching air with Negative Ions. Salt Crystal Rock

and lamps/candles made from Salt Crystal Rocks are natural air ionizers.

Circulates trillions of air-cleaning negative ions into the air, while

trapping particles on the electrostatically-

charged metal dust-collection plate.

What are Negative Ions? They're oxygen atoms with an extra electron. And they can help you feel better.

The normal Ion count in fresh country air is 2,000 to 4,000 negative Ions per cubic centimeter

(about the size of a sugar cube). While ionization of the air is mandatory in many European and Russian hospitals and work places, it has only recently come to light in our country with the growing problem of toxic air in our urban environments." Technically speaking: "Ions are charged particles in the air that are formed in nature when enough energy acts upon a molecule such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, water, or nitrogen to eject an electron from the molecule leaving a positively charged Ion. The displaced electron attaches itself to a nearby molecule, which then becomes a negatively charged Ion. It is the negative ion of oxygen that affects us the most.

EFFECTS OF NEGATIVE ION EXPOSURE Studies have shown that some people become very depressed when negative ion counts are very low, or in the wintertime (seasonal depression). A high negative ion exposure appeared associated with feeling better about self, less sensitive, and more responsive or innervated (energized). -From August, 1982 issue of Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine. "Results indicated that subjects had faster reaction times and reported feeling significantly more energetic under negative Air Ion conditions than under normal air conditions."

 - From Influence of Negative Air Ions on Human performance and Mood.

"... The introduction of negative ion generation increased the subjective rating of alertness, atmospheric freshness, and environmental and personal warmth. "Fresh country air has negative ions that have been demonstrated to both treat and prevent depression." From Depression: The Way Out, by Neil Nedley, M.D. CAUSES OF NEGATIVE ION DEPLETION The picture tubes (CRTs) in computer monitors and TVs deplete the air of negative ions. So does the airflow through furnace ducts and air conditioning systems. Research has also shown that polluted areas both indoors and outdoors have very low levels of negative ions, and very high levels of positive ions. It would seem that all or most of the available negative ions had been used up in their fight with contaminants. Dry hot winds (like the famed Santa Ana, or Witches' Winds) also deplete negative ions from the air.

Salt Crystal Therapy Ancient Salt Crystals, over 250 million years old, are mined in Europe and Asia. As salt warms from a bulb or candle, it casts a soft glowing light and emits negative ions into the air. Many attribute the invigorating freshness that you feel near waterfalls, on mountain tops, after a thunderstorm, or by the ocean, to the abundance of these negative ions. Since each salt crystal is hand carved from the earth, each is unique in color, shape, and size. Ancient Salt Crystals, individually hand-carved from salt caves in the foothills of the majestic Himalayan mountains, are treasured by cultures around the world for their innate beauty and healing energy. When a tea light candle is placed inside the cored center, the salt crystal warms, casting a beautiful peaceful glow. Many believe that heated salt crystals also emit refreshing negative ions into the air, giving the feeling of being on the beach, on a mountain top, or near a waterfall. Today, with a renewed interest in natural healing, we are just beginning to understand the incredible power of these ancient salt crystals.

Each hand-carved crystal weighs between 2-3lbs., with colors ranging from off-white, to pink, to a deep, sensual orange. Perhaps you have noticed that your feeling of well being is intensified in pure mountain air, or at the seashore, or after a thunderstorm. This is due to the higher concentration of negative ions in these surroundings. It is no coincidence that healing spas are, as a rule, located in areas with foaming salt water or roaring mountain springs which generate plentiful negative ions which causes air particles to achieve electrical or ionic balance. How To Grow A Salt Crystal You can grow a salt crystal by dissolving salt in a container of water until the water becomes saturated brine and will absorb no more salt. Tie a 'seed' crystal of salt with cotton and suspend it in the brine. The crystal will attract salt and gradually grow over a period of time. The longer you leave it the larger it will become.

The classic case of ionic bonding, the sodium chloride molecule forms by the ionization of sodium and chlorine atoms and the attraction of the resulting ions. An atom of sodium has one 3s electron outside a closed shell, and it takes only 5.14 electron volts of energy to remove that electron. The chlorine lacks one electron to fill a shell, and releases 3.62 eV when it acquires that electron (it's electron affinity is 3.62 eV). This means that it takes only 1.52 eV of energy to donate one of the sodium electrons to chlorine when they are far apart. When the resultant ions are brought closer together, their electric potential energy becomes more and more negative, reaching -1.52 eV at about 0.94 nm separation. This means that if neutral sodium and chlorine atoms found themselves closer than 0.94 nm, it would be energetically favorable to transfer an electron from Na to Cl and form the ionic bond.

The potential energy curve shows that there is a minimum at 0.236 nm separation and then a steep rise in potential which represents a repulsive force. This repulsive force is more than just an electrostatic repulsion between the electron clouds of the two atoms. It has a quantum mechanical character rooted in the Pauli exclusion principle, and is often called just the "exclusion principle repulsion". When the ions are widely separated, the wavefunctions of their core electrons do not significantly overlap and they can have identical quantum numbers. As they get closer, the increasing overlap of the wavefunctions causes some to be forced into higher energy states. No two electrons can occupy the same state, so as a new set of energy states is formed for the composite, two-nucleus system, the lower energy states are filled and some of the electrons are pushed into higher states. This requires energy and is experienced as a repulsion, preventing the ions from coming any closer to each other.