The process of soaking up a chemical spill is known as ___________.

The process of soaking up a chemical spill is known as ___________.

• A. Adsorption
• B. Filtration
• C. Absorption
• D. Dilution

Answer: (C)

Absorption is the process of a liquid being taken up into the interior of a material, like a sponge soaking up water. When cleaning a spill with an absorbent pad or porous sorbent, the liquid moves into the absorbent’s internal structure, effectively being absorbed. This differs from adsorption, where the liquid would merely cling to or coat a surface rather than entering the bulk of the material. Filtration removes solids or separates components through a barrier, not by pulling liquid into a material. Dilution lowers concentration by adding more liquid, but it doesn’t remove the spill from the environment in the way absorption does.

Absorption is the process of a liquid being taken up into the interior of a material, like a sponge soaking up water. When cleaning a spill with an absorbent pad or porous sorbent, the liquid moves into the absorbent’s internal structure, effectively being absorbed. This differs from adsorption, where the liquid would merely cling to or coat a surface rather than entering the bulk of the material. Filtration removes solids or separates components through a barrier, not by pulling liquid into a material. Dilution lowers concentration by adding more liquid, but it doesn’t remove the spill from the environment in the way absorption does.