Schlumberger
 
In the Bathroom
Soap

SEED
 

Enough now! Stop playing in the tub and start washing yourself. Even behind your ears.

Soap washes filth.
Big news! Everybody knows that.
But can anyone tell how? I'll try!

Enough now!

As it was already explained in the bubbles section, soap is partly hydrophobic, partly absorbant. When gently mixed with water, soap molecules gather on the surface so that the hydrophobic parts can escape water contact, like this :

Bubbles

Once the surface is fully filled with soap molecules, leftovers need to find another method to limit water contact. Look at what they found :

  1. Molecules gather and form groups where the hydrophobic parts are protected by the absorbant ones.
  2. Another solution is to find a friendly stain to hook on to. Stains don't like water either.

This is the first part of the washing process.

Soap molecules surround stains.

Then when stains are detached from your skins (or maybe your clothes), water will easily penetrate between them. Last step : flushing.

In a nutshell, washing is :

  • apply soap
  • let water work
  • flush.

Quite simple, eh? And the little dirty marks in the tub after emptying it: those are your washed away dirt, flushed by water!

 

SEED
In the Bathtub  
Bubbles
Mist of the Mirror
Floating Duck
The Bath is Too Cold!
Soap
Funny Fingers
Flushing Vortex
The Drying Hairdryer
 
 

…more Science Watch articles about…
Air & Space Watch
Earth Watch
Inventing Our World
People in Motion

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