Why do cooked noodles and rice not continue to absorb water/liquid in soups?
In: Chemistry
Because a materical can only absorb so much water.
Watch noodle being cooked. As it absorbs water, it expands, but can only expands to so much. thus it stops absorbing water.
I would imagine because the noodle gets saturated with water and can not absorb more. Similar to adding salt to water. The water can only absorb so much salt.
I think everyone kind of missed the point. Yes, noodles have a certain limit for how much they can absorb, but what decides that limit?
The porosity (small holes) that a material has and its [chemical properties](https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/37grly/why_do_only_certain_materials_absorb_water_whats/crn2kxr?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x) decides how much water it can hold. Think of a sponge for the porosity part. The chemical part is a little more complicated, but the atomic structure (atoms are the tiny building blocks of everything) decide if the materials attracts or repels water, hydrophilic or hydrophobic respectively.
So, noodles and rice have an ability to absorb water. The porosity (small holes) and chemical properties mean that there is a maximum amount of water that can go into the noodles. If you go over that limit, then the noodles and water around them will be out of balance. If there’s too much water in the noodles, then the water will leave the noodles. If there’s too much water around the noodles, then the water will enter the noodles. This will happen until the noodles and water are at “equilibrium,” and where this equilibrium point exists is defined by porosity and molecular properties.
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