Angle of Repose

Personally, I prefer as horizontal as possible, save for a slight–maybe 5-7 degree–cephalic inclination.  

Salt, OTOH, likes it better at 32 degrees. And so, finally, I know why road department salt storage facilities I’ve seen in my admittedly limited travels store their road salt in those cone-shaped buildings. It has nothing to do with the conical equivalent of “pyramid power” that so many have used over the years to keep their razor blades sharp.  

Seems that the salt destined for storage is loaded from the tops of the cones. As it piles up, it’s flanks, because of the physical properties of the salt grains, assume a 32 degree pitch. So shaping the buildings to conform to the natural “angle of repose” is the most efficient shape for storing salt. And now I know.  

It occurred to me that, had this burning issue come up thirty years ago, it would have had to remain unsolved. I can’t imagine I’d keep the question alive long enough to go through the whole reference librarian pathway to an answer.  

Our few hours last week without power found me quite a few times having the spontaneous urge to KNOW a meaning, more details like this one about salt housing, or to add to some growing thread of inquiry by sitting down at the computer for an instant answer. I was not aware of how often this impulse occurs in my day until there was no way to satisfy it from my office chair.  

We’ve become quite spoiled by the ability to “google” the world of facts, and have far more information at our fingertips than anyone would have imagined just a few decades ago. May we use this gift wisely. (Fewer cats and chats and blog posts about salt houses would be a start. Ya think?)

Now, I will go  practice my favorite angle of repose, if Gandy will give me some room on the love seat. Tsuga had to ask permission to get on the furniture. Now with Gandy, we have to ask permission. What has our world come to?