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The Watercooler
WEN makes me a spoiled princess......
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<blockquote data-quote="Marg's Man" data-source="post: 371354" data-attributes="member: 4085"><p>Sorry didn't see this. </p><p></p><p>WARNING! Science Content (okay I pinched it from Wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant</a> because I'm too lazy to type it all out.)</p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p>They are an interesting range of chemicals that allow things that wouldn't normally mix to do so. You use this property whenever you wash that greasy frypan in water with a good dose of wash up liquid. It is the surfactants in the wash up liquid that allows the grease to dissolve (or more correctly disperse) in the water. Heat makes it happen easier which is why hot water works better than cold. </p><p></p><p>Although many are man made, they occur in nature too. Possibly the most important is in the lungs where a layer of surfactant promotes gas exchange across the surfaces of the alveoli (look them up if you don't know). VERY premature babies don't have this surfactant layer and can have trouble breathing without oxygen.</p><p></p><p>I'm not going to get any deeper here but I've just read the Wikipedia article and it's pretty well correct. If want the REALLY gritty detail read that and follow the links.</p><p></p><p>Marg's Man</p><p>PS Honey (Marg) I'm going to be late home I've been answering this post!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marg's Man, post: 371354, member: 4085"] Sorry didn't see this. WARNING! Science Content (okay I pinched it from Wikipedia [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant[/url] because I'm too lazy to type it all out.) They are an interesting range of chemicals that allow things that wouldn't normally mix to do so. You use this property whenever you wash that greasy frypan in water with a good dose of wash up liquid. It is the surfactants in the wash up liquid that allows the grease to dissolve (or more correctly disperse) in the water. Heat makes it happen easier which is why hot water works better than cold. Although many are man made, they occur in nature too. Possibly the most important is in the lungs where a layer of surfactant promotes gas exchange across the surfaces of the alveoli (look them up if you don't know). VERY premature babies don't have this surfactant layer and can have trouble breathing without oxygen. I'm not going to get any deeper here but I've just read the Wikipedia article and it's pretty well correct. If want the REALLY gritty detail read that and follow the links. Marg's Man PS Honey (Marg) I'm going to be late home I've been answering this post! [/QUOTE]
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WEN makes me a spoiled princess......
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