how does soap work if we put it on our hands and then take it off immediately? It doesn’t soak in like hand sanitizer
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Oh I love this one.
So, soap molecules are pretty cool. One side of the molecule is afraid of water, and sticks to fats/oils/lipids/dirt. The other side is afraid of fats/oils/lipids/dirt, and sticks to water.
So, you lather up some soap, and what’s happening is you’re dispersing a ton of these molecules.
Say you’ve got some cooking oil on your hands. You lather up some soap on your hands, and the soap molecules will completely surround the oil molecule, covering it entirely.
Now, the oil is trapped by the soap molecules, and the side that sticks to fat is all pointed at the oil molecule. So, the side that sticks to water, is sticking out in all directions from that oil molecule.
This makes it easy to wash away off of you and down the drain.
Bonus: Virus have outer coatings of fat. Washing your hands with basic soap clears you skin of viruses because they get treated exactly like the oil molecule.
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