Soap acts as what kind of agent between grease and water?

• Correct Answer: sterilizing
• lubricating
• codifying
• emulsifying

Explanation: Butter and mayonnaise are examples of a class of colloids called emulsions . An emulsion is a colloidal dispersion of a liquid in either a liquid or a solid. A stable emulsion requires an emulsifying agent to be present. Mayonnaise is made in part of oil and vinegar. Since oil is nonpolar and vinegar is an aqueous solution and polar, the two do not mix and would quickly separate into layers. However, the addition of egg yolk causes the mixture to become stable and not separate. Egg yolk is capable of interacting with both the polar vinegar and the nonpolar oil. The egg yolk is called the emulsifying agent. Soap acts as an emulsifying agent between grease and water. Grease cannot be simply rinsed off your hands or another surface because it is insoluble. However, the soap stabilizes a grease-water mixture because one end of a soap molecule is polar and the other end is nonpolar. This allows the grease to be removed from your hands or your clothing by washing with soapy water.

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