"Benjamin Franklin performed a beautiful experiment using surfactants; on a pond at Clapham Common, he poured a small amount of oleic acid, a natural surfactant which tends to form a dense film at the water-air interface. He measured the volume required to cover all the pond. Knowing the area, he then knew the height of the film, something like three nanometers in our current units. This was to my knowledge the first measurement of the size of molecules. In our days, when we are spoilt with exceedingly complex toys, such as nuclear reactors or synchrotron sources, I particularly like to describe experiments of this Franklin style to my students. Surfactants allow us to protect a water surface, and to generate these beautiful soap bubbles, which are the delight of our children."
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Academics from FrancePhysicists from FranceNobel laureates in PhysicsPeople from ParisNobel laureates from France
Original Language: English
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"Soft Matter" Nobel lecture (9 December 1991) - full text in PDF format
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pierre-Gilles_de_Gennes
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Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (October 24, 1932 – May 18, 2007) was a French physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1991.
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