Question

‌‌ ‌How‌ ‌does‌ ‌detergent‌ ‌change‌ ‌the‌ ‌physical‌ ‌properties‌ ‌of‌ ‌water?‌ ‌

Answer 1

Hint:To determine the answer we should know what detergents are and the action of detergents. Water molecules have hydrogen bonding which holds the water molecules tightly. Detergents contain the polar part which breaks the hydrogen bonding.

Complete answer:Detergents are the surfactants. Detergents are made up of alkyl benzene sulphonate. Detergents work like soaps. It contains the polar hydrophilic and non-polar hydrophobic ends. The polar ends bind with the water molecule which decreases the hydrogen bonding among the water molecules.The hydrogen bonding in water molecules causes surface tension. The water molecules bind tighter by hydrogen bonding. The molecules present in the centre of the liquid attract the water molecules present towards the surface of the liquid, so the water drop gets a curved structure known as the surface tension of water.In addition to the detergents in water, some hydrogen bonding breaks to form the bonds with polar ends of detergents, so the surface tension of the water decreases. Thus, detergents get dissolved in water.Working of detergents depends upon the decrease in surface tension of the water, so the water can solubilize the detergents whose nonpolar ends have bonded with impurities.

Therefore, decreasing the surface tension detergents change the physical properties of water.

Note:Surfactants are also known as surface-active agents work as surface tension decreasing agents. The tendency of a liquid to shrink or to minimize its area is known as surface tension. The bonding between hydrogen attached with fluorine, oxygen, or nitrogen with fluorine, oxygen, or nitrogen is known as hydrogen bonding. In water hydrogen is bonded with highly electronegative oxygen, so the hydrogen forms a bond with the oxygen of another water molecule which is known as hydrogen bonding.