What is surface tension and why would you want to lower it by using surfactants?
In: Chemistry
It’s for cleaning. If it bubbles around dirt and debris the it won’t carry it away. Lowered surface tension means it will absorb dirt and carry it with it
Premature babies don’t make enough surfactant for their lungs, so the alveoli (the little air air sacs in the lungs responsible for gas exchange) stick together due to surface tension. Health care providers order a medicine/surfactant to break the surface tension so the alveoli can open up and work as they are meant to. Science is rad.
Not directly linked to the question but it somewhat is. I saw a documentary about surface tension and what detergents. The surface tension is brought about by there being more water molecules at the surface. Imagine throwing a child’s ball park into a swimming pool, the balls would float to the surface (balls are representing high concentration of water molecules) and boom. This is your surface tension representation.
Anyways my original comment was to be about those insects that glide along the surface tension of water. I saw that even spiders can float impressively well on all 8 legs. It’s basically a untapped land that only insects dwell on. However once a detergent is added. The surface tension (or balls) are thinned out. That surface is scattered and now what was on the surface will drown.
Point is, you flush a spider down a clean water toilet it will likely bob up to the surface at some point. However, if you flush that same spider with a little detergent in the mix it will likely meet a watery grave.
Just think. You wouldn’t want to be thrown into the ocean without a life preserver!
You don’t lower it as much as break its ability to hold form. I seem to remember when I was a kid seeing an episode of Beakman’s World where they said the breaking of the surface tension makes the water more abrasive…making water “wetter”
Water molecules have a very strong bond with each other, called hydrogen bridges. This is what gives water alot of interesting properties like a high boiling temperature. Furthermore it creates surface tension because the outermost water molecules have a very strong bond.
Latest Answers