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seleff

(173 posts)

7. Virus has a lipid membranous envelope

Reply to wryter2000 (Reply #1)

Tue Mar 24, 2020, 02:10 PM

Mar 2020

I’m a high school Chemistry teacher in a District that is closed. We have been feeding our kids with online enrichment lessons while we organize our remote learning for an indefinite period. One of our lessons is about the chemistry of soap and sanitizers and how they kill bacteria and inactivate viruses. The virus has a membranous outer layer (envelope) which the soap disrupts, much as it disrupts grease. It appears that the virus falls apart once the lipid is essentially dissolved and removed by soap and water.

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Coronavirus prevention: Why soap, sanitizer and warm water work against Covid-19 and other viruses [View all] Arkansas Granny Mar 2020 OP

Does soap actually kill the virus? wryter2000 Mar 2020 #1

That is what it does, but it's effective. Lochloosa Mar 2020 #2

It sounds as though soap destroys the outer layer or "skin" of the virus Arkansas Granny Mar 2020 #4

It DOES kill. Virus protected by fatty layer until it is in the body. Soap breaks fat & Bernardo de La Paz Mar 2020 #6

Virus has a lipid membranous envelope seleff Mar 2020 #7

The term used here is that it "inactivates" it. A virus isn't really "alive" in the first place... Beartracks Mar 2020 #8

Wow wryter2000 Mar 2020 #10

Dramatic demonstration video uses Black to show how to wash hands: Bernardo de La Paz Mar 2020 #3

this explains a lot - thanks KT2000 Mar 2020 #5

Very interesting! StarryNite Mar 2020 #9