A soap molecule has a unique characteristic that is unlike most molecules. This is because one end of the molecule is attracted to fats and repels water, while the other end with the oxygen and one sodium atom is drawn to water but repels fat. If oil were to be poured in soapy water, the soap fractures the oil into billions of microscopic droplets that are each about on ten-thousandth (0.0001) inch in diameter. From here, 20 million soap molecules surround each individual droplet. This produces a film of soap one molecule thick. Soap does not dissolve the oil, however, but instead puts it in a suspension in the water, otherwise called an emulsion. The soap holds the oil in this emulsion until the water washes it away. Although, this will only work when the soap is agitated.
Another way soap helps to clean is that is makes water wetter. Water has a property called surface tension. Because water is polar, each molecule is attracted to another water molecule becuase the opposing charges attract. In every droplet, water molecules are surrounded by other water molecules, however at the surface, molecules only attract on the sides. The surface molecules are pulled into the body of the water, creating tension. This tension is called surface tension, which causes water to bead into droplets
