eli5: Why does adding salt increase the buoyancy of water?
In: Chemistry
In layman’s terms, adding salt increases the density.
The density of fresh water is about 1,000kg/m^3 – regular floaty floaty.
The density of the Dead sea is about 1,240kg/m^3 – you’ll bob about in it like a cork, lots of floaty floaty.
The density of mercury (liquid metal at room temperature, not the planet) is about 13,546kg/m^3 – so much floaty floaty that solid iron anvils will bob about on the surface like corks.
https://www.technology.org/2018/05/31/how-can-a-heavy-iron-anvil-float-on-liquid-mercury-video/
Hope this helps with the mental picture.
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