How Does Soap Work? The Molecule That Grabs Both Grease and Water

Dark chalkboard with physics formulas

How does soap work? Water alone will not wash grease off your hands — oil and water refuse to mix, so rinsing just moves the grease around. Soap solves this with a molecular trick: each soap molecule has two ends with opposite preferences, and that split personality is the entire mechanism. One Molecule, Two Personalities … Read more