> Hydrophobic & Hydrophilic reactions

How does soap work?

The soap molecule has two reaction capabilities, one is hydrophilic that binds with water and the other is hydrophobic that binds with the dirt particles. The soap molecules creates micelles when they mix with dirt. As the soapy water is rinsed away the dirt goes along with it.This web page represents the agent based simulation model for aforementioned chemical reactions.

Agent based simulation approach

This page illustrates the reaction of soap molecules and the dirt particles in the cleansing action. In the present model, the blue colored molecules represent the dirt particle and the location of these molecules are fixed in the simulation process. However, the number of dirt molecules participating in the modelling process is controlled by a slider bar. The soap molecules are small and represented by grey color in this page. This simulation assumes that four soap molecules are needed to remove a single dirt particle. The soap molecules move in a group of four. Finally, the soap molecules which are not able to make a group of four will remain as unpaired in the simulation window.

Conclusions

This study was mainly aimed at providing a platform to visualize the hydrophilic and hydrophobic reactions takes place during the soap-dirt interaction. Agent based simulation approach was employed for the same.