Is it possible to mix oil and water

First you should have noticed that when you added the oil to the water they did not mix together. Instead the oil created a layer on the surface of the water. This is because oil is less dense than water and therefore it floats to the surface.

These beads, however, did not mix with the water. The detergent molecules can form bonds with both water and oil molecules. This activity brought to you in partnership with Science Buddies. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. Discover World-Changing Science. Materials 2 clear plastic water bottles with lids 2 cups of water One-half cup of oil olive, cooking or vegetable oils will all work Liquid dishwashing soap Clock or timer Permanent marker Measuring cup Measuring spoon Food coloring optional Preparation Remove any labels from your water bottles.

Pour one cup of water into each bottle. Phone: Caption : Optical images demonstrate that when water droplets condense on an oil bath, the droplets rapidly coalesce to become larger and larger top row of images, at minute intervals. Under identical conditions but with a soap-like surfactant added bottom row , the tiny droplets are much more stable and remain small.

Credits : Courtesy of the researchers. Caption :. Credits :. Related Articles. Kripa Varanasi: Innovating at interfaces. Infinite Cooling wins Cleantech University Prize competition. Researchers design coatings to prevent pipeline clogging. Reducing runoff pollution by making spray droplets less bouncy. LiquiGlide slides into consumer space.

Since the water molecules pack together more densely, the less dense oil molecules will float to the surface while the water molecules sink below the oil. We think that chemistry is super interesting, too! Fortunately, we have plenty of other topics for you to wonder about! We are undergoing some spring clearing site maintenance and need to temporarily disable the commenting feature.

Thanks for your patience. Drag a word to its definition. You have answered 0 of 3 questions correctly and your score is:. Want to add a little wonder to your website? Help spread the wonder of families learning together. We sent you SMS, for complete subscription please reply. Follow Twitter Instagram Facebook. Why don't oil and water mix? What are polar molecules? How does an emulsifier get water and oil to mix? Wonder What's Next?

Try It Out Oil and water may not mix, but you're sure to have a good time together if you explore the following activities with a friend or family member: Do oil and water really not mix? Find out for yourself! Grab a clear glass from the cupboard at home and fill it with water. Pour a small amount of cooking oil into the glass and watch what happens. Do they mix? Draw or paint a picture of what your glass looks like after you pour the oil into it.

For fun, you can experiment making interesting concoctions by using different types of oil and adding food coloring to your glass of water. Is there any way to get oil and water to become friendlier and mix together? Take your experimentation a step further by jumping online to try the Mixing Oil and Water experiment.

You'll also need some dishwashing liquid or detergent. What effect does this new ingredient have on oil and water mixing together? Have fun experimenting! Do you know any people who sometimes act like oil and water? From time to time, you'll probably notice that some people just can't seem to interact and get along together. They then let the water vapor from the surrounding air condense onto the oil surface.

This causes tiny, uniform water droplets on the surface that then sink into the oil, and their size can be controlled by adjusting the proportion of surfactants. For various applications including new drug-delivery systems and food-processing methods, it is essential to get oil in water and form tiny droplets.

On an industrial scale, these emulsions are made by either mechanically shaking the blend or utilizing sound waves to set up serious vibrations inside the fluid. This process is also called as sonicating. The finer the drops, the more energy it takes. In contrast, our approach is very energy inexpensive.