Why don’t oil and water mix? – John Pollard

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-don-t-oil-and-water-mix-john-pollard

Salt dissolves in water; oil does not. But why? You can think of that glass of water as a big, bumpin’ dance party where the water molecules are always switching dance partners — and they’d much rather dance with a salt ion. John Pollard explains how two chemistry principles, energetics and entropy, rule the dance floor.

Lesson by John Pollard, animation by Andrew Foerster.