Why does hot water help dissolve old dirt on dishes but cold water doesn’t? Also, why is dirt harder to wash away if you leave it overnight?
In: Chemistry
Basically it has to do with whether or not the chemical bonds are hydrated. Also, heat introduces entropy
Hot water melts fats so the surfactants can work on them, when they are hard they are much harder to make waterborne and actionable.
Heat produces fast moving molecules in the water. That’s why water boils. The molecules are super agitated. That’s why tea dissolves faster in boiling water instead of cold and that’s also why dirty dishes are easier cleaned with hot water. Over night the dirty dishes become caked in their sauces, it loses water it dissolves in the air, leaving behind crusty hard dirt. The crusty dirt is not a liquid anymore henceby being harder to clean.
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