Thank you. Okay but what is it exactly? Is it salt? Is it calcium? Is it calcium salt? What is it? And what chemical reaction does it contribute to your beer brewing?
In chemistry, a Salt is just a molecule with a positive ion and a negative ion that results in a molecule with no charge. We call NaCl (sodium chloride) “salt” or “table salt” but really it’s just one kind of salt.
CaCl is also a salt, but it has a calcium ion instead of a sodium ion.
Salts tend to break into their ions in water, and might make the water more acidic or basic. Often, the additional ions will lower the freezing temperature. That’s why calcium chloride is popular for road salt.
Yep, it’s a salt. @themeatbridge explained it really well.
In brewing, it’s really important to have calcium in the mash, where you’re converting starches into sugars. It helps maintain an optimal pH and the enzymes that do the work need it as well. It’s also important for yeast health. Chloride accentuates malt flavour in beer. I’ll add more or less depending on the beer style; more for a stout, for example, and less for an IPA. I’ll add more gypsum (calcium sulfate) for more hoppy styles because sulfate imparts a dryness than accentuates hops.
Fun fact: You can’t store calcium chloride in powder form if you need precise amounts of it because it’ll absorb moisture from the air over time. The first time I used it, I mixed it with water in a glass bottle I was holding not realizing that it’s incredibly exothermic. It suddenly got blistering hot and was steaming like crazy. Burnt my hand and scared the shit out of me!
Actual live-in nurses are pretty rare and very expensive, but I think you’re overestimating how common they are.
Most of what you see is just caretakers who come during the week on a set schedule, which is usually a lot more affordable than nursing homes because you’re paying for someone’s labor versus labor + living accomodations.
To answer your second question, it would cost whatever rate the nurse agreed to work for. It would have to be pretty competitive. In most cases, having to live at the patient’s house isn’t seen as a benefit of the job.
In the country I live at the moment, it is common to have a lady living in the house of an elderly person in good health but not enough to do their own cleaning or groceries. It is helpful and reassuring in case the older person falls and it also keep them company.
Those companions/helpers are often foreign (Ukrainiens at the moment) and are not expensive as you can imagine. However they receive food and lodging in addition to their agreed salary.
It seems to be beneficial relationships in more than one way as they keep company to each other and the helpers might even improve the local language with the person they care for.
This is a solution that I’m considering for my mother who has been very independent all her life and would rather throw herself out of the window rather than going to an expensive nursing home where “everybody are just waiting to die” (her words). I’d imagine the slight diminution of privacy is worth it.
Don’t feel discouraged by the Karen above, that should’ve stayed in Reddit alongside their peers. Thoughtful contribution is often verbose, and there’s nothing wrong with it.
In my country it’s free to get a nurse visiting you twice a day when you’re disabled (including old age related disability). You’d also get massive financial aid for a live-in person, but they’d normally be a family member who would get a government salary + possible adaptations to their normal job (eg always working from home).
Hospice is a last resort and it’s incredibly expensive.
I can’t answer your question but… a few years ago I remember a story where there was an elderly lady who spent all her time on cruise ships as it turned out to be no more expensive than going to a care home and had a similar level of services. (I think this was either the UK or Canada but don’t quote me on that.)
Calcium chloride exists, it’s CaCl₂. You need two chloride anions for each calcium cation. [see note*]
It’s safe to eat as long as food grade. In fact it’s used in cheesemaking. It’s salty and bitter. It’s also used to dehydrate stuff in laboratory, since it absorbs water like there’s no tomorrow.
It doesn’t behave like metallic calcium at all. Just like sodium chloride (aka table salt) doesn’t behave like metallic sodium (warning: loud noise).
*Note: technically CaCl (one chlorine) exists, as a diatomic molecule. Rarely found in stars, you won’t find it in Earth.
nostupidquestions
Oldest
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.