User talk:Octalman

Potash article
Subscript text Welcome to Wikipedia!!!

What I do if an article statement doesn't match its source is to represent the source the best way I can in the article and then just put as an edit comment that the source states something different than what was in the article.

What was the question with the potash article? I don't write much on it, but I had it on my watch list, since I had edited it a little in the past. WriterHound (talk) 06:15, 15 June 2008 (UTC) - I suggest the following edit: "The term has become somewhat ambiguous due to the substitution in fertilizers of cheaper potassium salts, such as potassium chloride (KCl) or potassium oxide (K2O) [1], to which the same common name is now sometimes also applied. In addition, potassium hydroxide (KOH) is commonly called caustic potash, an additional source of confusion."

Also, in the table, first line, second column, the chemical name of potash fertilizer should be shown as "Potash" or "Muriate of Potash", not potassium oxide. In the third column of the first line, the chemical formula ought to be KCl (potassium chloride), not K2O. K20 is merely a "metallurgical" convention, used by mining chemists - the metallic content of an ore or ore product is represented as the equivalent percentage of the oxide, rather than of the metallic element itself. Confusing to the uninitated, but of longstanding use. Fertilizer grade muriate of potash is about 85% potassium chloride, though U. S. Borax & Chemical Co. also produced a 98.5% grade until it closed its Loving, N. M. plant in the late 'sixties. The main impurity is sodium chloride, though "flotation grade" (85%) potash contains around 0.5% to a little over 1% clay, which gives sylvite deposits - and the "float" product - their distinctive reddish color.

Note 1 is misleading, for the reason mentioned. May I suggest that this explanation be substituted for the existing Note 1?