A Model for Monomer and Micellar Concentrations in Surfactant Solutions

relative transition half width r

0.1

[

S

1

]/cmc

[

S

m

]/cmc

This Demonstration shows monomer and micellar concentrations in surfactant solutions. In particular, it shows the effect of the relative transition width

r

on the concentration of monomeric surfactant

[

S

1

]

(blue) and micellized surfactant

[

S

m

]

(red) near the critical micelle concentration (cmc). The horizontal axis represents the relative total surfactant concentration

[S]

0

/cmc

. The vertical dashed line at

[S]

0

/cmc=1

indicates the cmc. The dashed brown curve is a Gaussian function centered at the cmc with half width

r

.