What is surface tension and why would you want to lower it by using surfactants?

Question

What is surface tension and why would you want to lower it by using surfactants?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

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”