At the critical micelle concentration (CMC), the surfactant molecules:
A
decompose
No worries! We‘ve got your back. Try BYJU‘S free classes today!
B
dissociate
No worries! We‘ve got your back. Try BYJU‘S free classes today!
C
associate
Right on! Give the BNAT exam to get a 100% scholarship for BYJUS courses
D
become completely soluble
No worries! We‘ve got your back. Try BYJU‘S free classes today!
Open in App
Solution
The correct option is B associate Micelles form by the cooperative binding of monomers to one another at concentrations exceeding a rather narrow region called the critical micellization concentration (CMC). The latter is the concentration of a surfactant at which a large number of micelles form in its solution that have been in thermodynamic equilibrium with the molecules (ions), and a number of properties of the solution sharply change. This sharp transition to the CMC region for systems with flexible chains could be attributed to the cooperative nature of the self- association process. This makes aggregates containing many monomers considerably more stable than small particles. The CMC has been one of the most easily determined experimentally and useful quantitative characteristics of solutions of surfactants with flexible chains.