I learnt the verb "adsorb" in high school chemistry. Why is adsorption not a thing? (Although it does look like the article meant "absorption" and not "adsorption".)
Quote for those not in the know:
-----
<<<"Absorb" refers to a situation where something is taken into a medium, and disappears as a
consequence (from?). "Adsorb" refers to a situation where something gets stuck onto (to?)
the surface of a medium.
We would use "absorb" for when light is absorbed by a coloured or opaque object, or for when water is
soaked into a sponge, or even for when my students manage to "take in" some of what I am telling
them. It is an ordinary English word.
"Adsorb" is used for a very specific situation where molecules get stuck onto a surface. It does not
occur as a word in ordinary language, outside its scientific meaning. Adsorption is very important,
because many chemical reactions can go a lot faster when the reacting molecules are adsorbed at a
surface (reactions of hydrogen gas on the surface of nickel, for example), or chemical reactions can be
prevented by the presence of a barricading adsorbed layer on the surface (aluminium failing to react
with air, for example), or impurities can be removed from a solution by adsorbing them onto a finely
divided solid (activated charcoal for decolorizing solutions, or for medicinal use, for example).>>>
Now you can see why my brain was fried trying to type all that correctly. Not only do the phonemes sound the same, the letters are mirror images of each other. I think I now know how dyslexics must feel all the time.
Quote for those not in the know:
-----
<<<"Absorb" refers to a situation where something is taken into a medium, and disappears as a consequence (from?). "Adsorb" refers to a situation where something gets stuck onto (to?) the surface of a medium.
We would use "absorb" for when light is absorbed by a coloured or opaque object, or for when water is soaked into a sponge, or even for when my students manage to "take in" some of what I am telling them. It is an ordinary English word.
"Adsorb" is used for a very specific situation where molecules get stuck onto a surface. It does not occur as a word in ordinary language, outside its scientific meaning. Adsorption is very important, because many chemical reactions can go a lot faster when the reacting molecules are adsorbed at a surface (reactions of hydrogen gas on the surface of nickel, for example), or chemical reactions can be prevented by the presence of a barricading adsorbed layer on the surface (aluminium failing to react with air, for example), or impurities can be removed from a solution by adsorbing them onto a finely divided solid (activated charcoal for decolorizing solutions, or for medicinal use, for example).>>>