How does activated charcoal help against ingested poison?
In: Chemistry
The question has already been answered but I just wanna expand on the science a bit more because I think it’s really neat.
Activated charcoal has undergone a process to make it porous that *dramatically* increases its surface area – one gram can have as much surface area as a football field.
It’s essentially bored through with many tiny holes, like tunnels. Consider the area of rock face exposed to air when you tunnel through a mountain. You lose twice the area of the tunnel entrances, but you gain the entire interior of the tunnel. Many tunnels means lots of exposure.
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