Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC):

The critical micelle concentration (CMC) is defined as the concentration of 'surface active molecules' or surfactants above which micelles are spontaneously formed in water. A micelle is best described as a sphere made up of surfactant molelcules. In this sphere, all of the hydrophylic portions of the molecules make up the outer surface and is in contact with the water. While the hydrophobic ends of the molecules are within the sphere and only interacting with themselves.

Surfactants can arrange themselves at the surface of the water such that the one part interacts with the water and the other interacts with the air. However, the presence of these molecules on the surface lowers the surface tension. At low concentrations surfactants will favor arrangement on the surface because as the surface becomes crowded with surfactant more molecules will arrange into micelles. Based on this, measurements of surface tension can be used to determine the CMC.

CMC is an important characteristic of a surfactant. At concentrations below the CMC, surface tension changes dramatically with the concentration of the surfactant. However, after reaching the CMC, the surface tension essentially becomes constant.