Which statement best describes the function of micelles formed by soaps in water?
Micelles trap oily dirt inside their non-polar centers and disperse in water.
A soap molecule has two ends: an ionic (polar) head that is attracted to water and a long hydrocarbon (non-polar) tail that is attracted to oil and grease.
In water, soap molecules arrange themselves in spherical clusters called micelles, with the tails pointing inwards and the heads facing the water. Oily dirt dissolves in the hydrocarbon interior, so it is trapped at the centre of the micelle.
Because the outer surface of each micelle carries ionic heads, the micelles stay dispersed in water and do not clump together, and the trapped dirt is rinsed away with the water.
Micelles do not clean by changing the pH or by breaking water molecules into ions, and they form in water itself, not in its absence.
Hence, Micelles trap oily dirt inside their non-polar centers and disperse in water.
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