What advantage is there to adding salt to cooking water?

and what conditions are necessary for ideal carbonation of a beverage?

please help

http://www.miniscience.com/projects/Saltwater/index.html

http://www.physlink.com/Education/askExperts/ae643.cfm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonation

So for the first one, would the answer be that salt makes the water boil at a higher temperature because the salt molecules weigh down the water molecules and restrict their movement? This is what it says on the websites, but I am not quite sure I understand it.

All I got from the third website, for the second question, is that CO2 must be dissolved under pressure in a liquid.

salt does not help water boil faster at all. it actually makes water boil slower. with the salt acting as a solute, the boiling point of salt water is higher than just water alone. However, the salt water will cause the noodles to cook faster, since it is already at a higher temp.

and it tastes better. (: