ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Sodium hexametaphosphate

Sodium hexametaphosphate is a big word that means a kind of salt that's made up of a bunch of smaller parts called "phosphates."

Imagine you have a bunch of building blocks, and each block is a different color. You can put those blocks together to make a bigger structure, right? Well, the phosphates in sodium hexametaphosphate are like building blocks too.

When they're all put together, they form a long, chain-like structure. This structure can be used for lots of different things, like making toothpaste foamier or keeping foods from spoiling too quickly.

So basically, sodium hexametaphosphate is a fancy-sounding word for a salt made up of lots of tiny building blocks that can be used for all kinds of different things!