Word: monomolecular
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...Practical Side. Dr. Langmuir experimented in the field of surface chemistry (the arrangement and orientation of molecules at the surface of objects), but what he did appeared at first to be an exercise in pure science. Later, his monomolecular findings contributed to the development of "invisible" glass, and proved helpful in the analysis of certain protein-like compounds...
Hair Oil & Aluminum. The polished surface of the mirror was transparent glass, still to be covered with a reflecting film of aluminum. Before this could be done, the glass had to be cleaned perfectly. The trick was to cover the surface with a "monomolecular layer" (one molecule thick) of a fatty acid to keep dust off the glass. This process sounds formidably scientific, but in practice the glass was covered with a well-advertised brand of hair oil (essentially an emulsion of lanolin), and the excess wiped off carefully with special wool flannel...
...some years Dr. Irving Langmuir of General Electric Co. has investigated the properties of monomolecular layers- that is, oil films, one molecule thick. He finds that in such layers molecules all stand on end, lined up in the same direction; that layers any number of molecules thick could be built up on a pane of glass by repeatedly dipping it in water covered with a monomolecular film. All this, however, came under the head of "pure-science" research...
Last week Dr. Langmuir talked about stearic acid, a substance found in animal fat, which makes a monomolecular film one ten-millionth of an inch thick. This turned out to be an extremely sensitive detector for atoms of metal in water. If the metal atoms are jostled around by stirring the water, they will soon strike the underside of the film, adhere to it. The film is skimmed from the water, allowed to contract. If it contains no metal, when viewed by polarized light it will give a double refraction effect in handsome colors. But if there were only...
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