What are micelles? Give an example of a micellers system.

Answer:

Micelle formation is done by substance such as soaps and detergent when dissolved in water. The molecules of such substance contain a hydrophobic and hydrophillic part. When present in water these substance arrange themseleves in spherical structure in such a manner that their hydrophobic parts are present towards the centre, while hydrophilic parts are pointing towards outside.
This is known as micelle formation.






A particle of colloidal size formed due to aggregation of several units of soap (surfactant) molecules in a dispersion medium is called micelle. A micelle usually consists of 50 to 100 molecules of the surfactants.

Examples of Miceller system: (i) Sodium stearate + water
[CH₃(CH₃)₁₆ COO^– Na + H₂O]
(ii) Sodium dodecyl sulphate + water
[CH₃(CH₂)₁₁ OSO₃^– Na⁺ + H₂O]
(iii) Cetylrimethyl ammonium bromide + water