A common example used in explaining chemistry is the reaction of sodium metal and chlorine gas to make sodium chloride, or common table salt. The reaction is interesting because it takes two very dangerous and reactive chemicals and brings them together to form something inert or harmless. There are many other reactions that produce many other types of salt as well, in fact whenever a solid consists of a positive ion and a negative ion bound together, the material is called a salt. However, most of the ways that people get salt to use is not through the use of violent chemical reactions. Most of the salt used in the world is obtained from salt already existing in nature. One method of getting salt is taking salty water, from the ocean for example, storing it in pools and letting the sun evaporate the water, leaving salt behind. There are also large deposits of salt in the earths crust. Some of this salt is extracted through traditional mining, where miners dig tunnels and carry the salt out. There also exist methods where holes are drilled and water is pumped down to the salt. The water then dissolves the salt, is pumped back up, and then the water is evaporated, leaving the salt behind.

The typical salt that you eat is made from sodium and chlorine. These two atoms can form an ionic bond and make a salt called sodium chloride. An ionic bond forms when there is an attraction between a positive charged atom (cation) and a negative charged atom (anion). There are also many other atoms and molecules that can make different kinds of salts. All salts are formed with ionic bonds.

Table salt is sodium chloride. You need sodium and chlorine. There are several ways chemically to get that - the simplest is to use sodium metal and chlorine gas, but that combination is extremely explosive. There's also sodium hydroxide (an alkali) and hydrochloric acid - this will produce water as well as salt, and will also make a great deal of heat.