Mallory Young, age 11, of Houston, Tex., For his question;

How does soap get things clean?

Dry dirt can be shaken or brushed away. The stubborn dirt on grubby clothes and grimy fingers is stuck there with traces of greasy oil. This is the dirt which seems to dissolve and disappear in soapy water. The soap, of course, is made of molecules, and the magic trick is done by these long and stringy soap molecules.

One end of a soap molecule happens to be attracted to water, the other end is attracted to oil. The oil loving end of the molecule grabs the greasy oil and with it goes the grubby dirt. The other end of the soap molecule pulls the oil and dirt toward the water. We could not remove this dirt with soapless water. So, lather up and 1et the little soap molecules pull out the greasy dirt and lose it in the water.