When Alcohol and Water Mix
New x-ray studies by a US-Sweden collaboration show that chains of
methanol molecules react with H2O to form water/methanol
clusters. The clusters lower the entropy of the overall methanol/water
liquid. For this reason only a limited number of these structures forms.
(Figure courtesy J. Guo, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.)
Reported by: Guo
et al., Physical Review Letters, 10 October 2003
Associated
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