Well, to answer this question, we have to begin by answering question number one and question number two, if we understand these two questions. And the answer to these two questions will have no problem actually understanding how the surfactant in the alveoli actually works. So let's begin with question number one. An individual droplet of water placed on the tabletop will basically form a spherical shape as shown in diagram A. If we then add a tiny drop of detergent using some type of pipette onto that droplet of water, that droplet of water will basically break and collapse its spherical shape and will flatten out and spread out along the surface of the table as shown in diagram B. The question is, why does this actually take place?