Salts & brines

Sodium chloride · NaCl

Name: Sodium chloride (NaCl) aqueous solution properties
Creator: ProcessConvert
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sodium chloride (NaCl) is a salt; this page gives computed density, dynamic viscosity and specific heat capacity for aqueous solutions from 2–24 wt% and 0–80 °C.

Values are computed from the Laliberté (2009) aqueous-electrolyte correlation and tabulated over 2–24 wt% and 0–80 °C.

Also known as: Table salt, Common salt, Brine
CAS number: 7647-14-5
Tabulated range: 2–24 wt% · 0–80 °C
Properties: Density · Dynamic viscosity · Specific heat capacity · Specific gravity

At 20 wt% · 20 °C

reference snapshot

Density: 1148.1kg/m³
Density: 1.1481g/cm³
Specific gravity: 1.150
Viscosity: 1.561cP
Specific heat: 3409J/kg·K

Explore

Read a value at any point

Move the sliders to interpolate between the tabulated grid points. The readout and chart never go outside the validated 2–24 wt% and 0–80 °C range, and every number is interpolated from the committed table below — nothing is computed from a chemistry model in your browser.

Interactive explorer

Values are interpolated between the tabulated grid points below — sliders stay within the validated 2–24 wt% and 0–80 °C range.

Concentration13 wt%

Temperature20 °C

Density: 1093.4 kg/m³
Density: 1.0934 g/cm³
Specific gravity: 1.095
Dynamic viscosity: 1.277 cP
Specific heat: 3622 J/kg·K

Density (kg/m³) vs wt% NaCl at 20 °C — Sodium chloride.

Why it matters

What the numbers tell you

At 20 wt% and 20 °C, aqueous sodium chloride has a density of about 1148 kg/m³ (1.148 g/cm³) — roughly 1.15× the density of water. It also has a dynamic viscosity of about 1.561 cP, against roughly 1 cP for water at the same temperature, and a specific heat of about 3.41 kJ/kg·K, about 82% of water’s 4.18 kJ/kg·K. Those differences carry straight into volume-to-mass conversions, pump and pipe sizing, and the heat needed to change its temperature.

Common grades

A few working strengths

Properties at 20 °C for a handful of concentrations in everyday use, read from the committed grid (interpolated between tabulated points where a grade falls between them). The full table follows below.

wt% NaCl	°C	Density kg/m³	SG	Viscosity cP	Sp. heat J/kg·K
4	20	1026.6	1.028	1.062	3978
10	20	1070.8	1.073	1.191	3728
20	20	1148.1	1.150	1.561	3409
24	20	1180.3	1.182	1.808	3313

Sources

Where the numbers come from

Every value on this page is computed by a deterministic model — none is entered by hand. The generating method and the references it is checked against:

▸Laliberte, M. (2009). A Model for Calculating the Heat Capacity of Aqueous Solutions, with Updated Density and Viscosity Data. J. Chem. Eng. Data 54(6), 1725-1760. doi:10.1021/je8008123
▸CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 97th ed. (Haynes, ed., 2016) - Concentrative Properties of Aqueous Solutions (density and viscosity at 20 degC)
▸CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics - Aqueous Solubility of Inorganic Compounds at Various Temperatures (solubility bounds for the tabulated range)

Model: thermo==0.4.0 (chemicals==1.3.0) - Laliberte 2009 electrolyte correlation · Generated 2026-06-07

The committed data file for this page is published as JSON on GitHub under CC BY 4.0.

Validation

Checked against a cited value

The model is cross-checked at one independently cited reference point. The page is published only because this check passes.

Property / point	Density · 20 wt% · 20 °C
Cited reference value	1147.8 kg/m3
Model computed	1148.11 kg/m3
Error vs reference	0.027% (tolerance 1%)

CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 97th ed.. Haynes, W.M. (ed.), CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 97th ed. (CRC Press, 2016), Concentrative Properties of Aqueous Solutions, p. 5-130: 20.0 mass % NaCl at 20 degC = 1.1478 g/cm3 (primary data: Sohnel & Novotny 1985; Wolf 1966).

Full tables

Every tabulated point

Rows are temperature (°C); columns are concentration (wt% NaCl). Read the cell at the intersection. Specific gravity is density divided by the model water reference of 998.2 kg/m³ at 20 °C.

Density — kg/m³

°C \ wt%	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24
0	1014.6	1029.7	1044.9	1060.3	1076.0	1091.8	1107.9	1124.1	1140.5	1157.2	1174.0	1190.9
5	1014.6	1029.4	1044.4	1059.6	1075.1	1090.7	1106.5	1122.5	1138.7	1155.1	1171.7	1188.4
10	1014.1	1028.8	1043.6	1058.6	1073.9	1089.3	1104.9	1120.7	1136.7	1152.9	1169.2	1185.8
15	1013.4	1027.8	1042.5	1057.4	1072.4	1087.7	1103.1	1118.7	1134.5	1150.5	1166.7	1183.1
20	1012.3	1026.6	1041.1	1055.8	1070.8	1085.8	1101.1	1116.6	1132.3	1148.1	1164.1	1180.3
25	1011.0	1025.2	1039.6	1054.1	1068.9	1083.9	1099.0	1114.4	1129.9	1145.6	1161.5	1177.6
30	1009.5	1023.6	1037.8	1052.3	1066.9	1081.8	1096.8	1112.0	1127.4	1143.0	1158.8	1174.8
35	1007.8	1021.7	1035.9	1050.2	1064.8	1079.5	1094.4	1109.6	1124.9	1140.4	1156.1	1172.0
40	1005.9	1019.7	1033.8	1048.0	1062.5	1077.1	1092.0	1107.1	1122.3	1137.8	1153.4	1169.2
45	1003.8	1017.6	1031.5	1045.7	1060.1	1074.7	1089.5	1104.5	1119.7	1135.1	1150.7	1166.5
50	1001.5	1015.2	1029.1	1043.3	1057.6	1072.1	1086.9	1101.8	1117.0	1132.4	1147.9	1163.7
55	999.1	1012.8	1026.6	1040.7	1055.0	1069.5	1084.2	1099.1	1114.2	1129.6	1145.2	1160.9
60	996.6	1010.2	1024.0	1038.0	1052.3	1066.7	1081.4	1096.3	1111.5	1126.8	1142.4	1158.2
65	993.9	1007.5	1021.2	1035.2	1049.5	1063.9	1078.6	1093.5	1108.6	1124.0	1139.6	1155.4
70	991.1	1004.6	1018.4	1032.3	1046.5	1061.0	1075.7	1090.6	1105.7	1121.1	1136.7	1152.6
75	988.1	1001.6	1015.4	1029.3	1043.5	1058.0	1072.7	1087.6	1102.8	1118.2	1133.9	1149.8
80	985.1	998.6	1012.3	1026.2	1040.5	1054.9	1069.6	1084.6	1099.8	1115.2	1131.0	1147.0

Dynamic viscosity — cP (mPa·s)

°C \ wt%	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24
0	1.826	1.871	1.925	1.990	2.067	2.158	2.264	2.390	2.538	2.714	2.925	3.178
5	1.553	1.594	1.643	1.701	1.769	1.847	1.939	2.047	2.173	2.322	2.500	2.711
10	1.339	1.376	1.421	1.473	1.533	1.603	1.683	1.776	1.885	2.013	2.164	2.343
15	1.168	1.203	1.244	1.290	1.344	1.406	1.477	1.558	1.653	1.764	1.894	2.048
20	1.030	1.062	1.099	1.142	1.191	1.246	1.309	1.381	1.464	1.561	1.675	1.808
25	0.916	0.946	0.980	1.019	1.063	1.113	1.170	1.234	1.308	1.394	1.493	1.610
30	0.821	0.849	0.881	0.917	0.957	1.003	1.054	1.111	1.178	1.254	1.342	1.445
35	0.742	0.768	0.798	0.831	0.868	0.909	0.955	1.008	1.067	1.135	1.214	1.306
40	0.674	0.699	0.726	0.757	0.791	0.829	0.872	0.919	0.973	1.035	1.105	1.187
45	0.616	0.639	0.665	0.694	0.725	0.760	0.799	0.843	0.892	0.948	1.012	1.085
50	0.566	0.588	0.612	0.639	0.668	0.701	0.737	0.777	0.822	0.873	0.931	0.997
55	0.522	0.543	0.566	0.591	0.618	0.649	0.682	0.719	0.760	0.807	0.860	0.921
60	0.484	0.504	0.525	0.549	0.575	0.603	0.634	0.668	0.706	0.749	0.798	0.853
65	0.450	0.469	0.489	0.512	0.536	0.562	0.591	0.623	0.659	0.698	0.743	0.794
70	0.420	0.438	0.457	0.478	0.501	0.526	0.553	0.583	0.616	0.653	0.694	0.741
75	0.394	0.410	0.429	0.449	0.471	0.494	0.520	0.547	0.578	0.613	0.651	0.694
80	0.370	0.386	0.403	0.422	0.443	0.465	0.489	0.515	0.544	0.576	0.612	0.652

Specific heat capacity — J/kg·K

°C \ wt%	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24
0	4083	3969	3870	3783	3706	3635	3569	3509	3453	3402	3355	3312
5	4078	3970	3874	3789	3711	3640	3574	3512	3455	3402	3354	3311
10	4076	3972	3879	3795	3717	3645	3578	3516	3458	3404	3355	3311
15	4076	3975	3884	3800	3723	3651	3583	3520	3461	3406	3356	3311
20	4076	3978	3888	3805	3728	3656	3588	3524	3464	3409	3358	3313
25	4076	3981	3892	3810	3733	3660	3591	3527	3467	3411	3360	3314
30	4077	3983	3896	3814	3737	3664	3595	3530	3470	3413	3362	3315
35	4079	3986	3899	3818	3740	3667	3598	3533	3472	3415	3364	3317
40	4080	3989	3902	3821	3744	3671	3601	3536	3475	3418	3366	3319
45	4082	3991	3905	3824	3747	3673	3604	3538	3477	3419	3367	3320
50	4083	3993	3908	3827	3749	3676	3606	3540	3479	3422	3369	3322
55	4086	3996	3911	3830	3752	3679	3609	3543	3481	3424	3371	3323
60	4088	3999	3914	3832	3755	3681	3611	3545	3483	3426	3373	3325
65	4091	4001	3916	3835	3758	3684	3614	3548	3486	3428	3375	3328
70	4094	4004	3919	3838	3761	3687	3617	3551	3489	3431	3378	3330
75	4097	4008	3923	3841	3764	3690	3620	3553	3491	3433	3380	3332
80	4101	4011	3926	3844	3767	3693	3623	3556	3494	3436	3383	3335

Typical values

Sodium chloride solution properties at 25 °C

At 25 °C, 4 wt% sodium chloride has a density of about 1025.2 kg/m³, a dynamic viscosity of about 0.946 cP and a specific heat capacity of about 3981 J/kg·K. At 25 °C, 20 wt% sodium chloride has a density of about 1145.6 kg/m³, a dynamic viscosity of about 1.394 cP and a specific heat capacity of about 3411 J/kg·K. At 25 °C, 24 wt% sodium chloride has a density of about 1177.6 kg/m³, a dynamic viscosity of about 1.610 cP and a specific heat capacity of about 3314 J/kg·K.

Limitations

Before you use these numbers

▸Laliberte (2009) aqueous-electrolyte correlation for NaCl-water. Tabulated for 2-24 wt% over 0-80 degC. Saturation is nearly flat with temperature at about 26.3-26.8 wt% NaCl, so the 24 wt% ceiling keeps the whole table below saturation. The 0 degC floor stays above the freezing point at every tabulated strength (the freezing-point depression of a 2 wt% brine is already about 1.2 degC and grows with concentration). Values are for preliminary design; verify against vendor data for critical service.
▸Values are tabulated only inside the 2–24 wt% and 0–80 °C ranges shown; the correlation is not extrapolated beyond them here.
▸Figures are for a pure sodium chloride–water system. Commercial grades contain impurities (for example chloride in some caustic grades) that shift density and viscosity; check the supplier's data sheet for a specific product.
▸Use for preliminary design; verify for critical service.

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