Chemistry 2374A Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Pulmonary Surfactant, Wetting, Surface Tension
28 Dec 2017
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Surface tension has units of energy/area = nm/m2 = n/m. Is proportional to the particle-particle binding energy. Surfactants reduce the surface tension of water, this makes it easier to increase the water surface. You can blow bubbles when using a soap solution, but not with pure water. Important point: work associated with this process is always positive. Very simple model for surfactant action: the polar or charged head groups can strongly interact with the (cid:498)free(cid:499) h2o molecules at the water surface. Surfactant leads to the energy of molecules at the surface is decreased. Less work is required to bring new molecules to the surface. Because of surfactant action, less work (rubbing your hands against each other) is needed to clean your hands with soap. Lung surfactant: in the lung, blood is loaded with o2 (and co2 is released) This process occurs in small bubble- like compartments that contain very thin blood vessels.
