Better mixing leads to faster reactions for key chemicals

Pouring cream into coffee creates a show of eddies that rivals Jupiter's roiling storms. But one clank of the spoon collapses all that black and tan chaos into a smooth, uniform brown. It turns out there's a lot to that mixing. For one thing, industries rely on robust mixing processes to make all kinds of material goods—virtually everything one might touch from the seat of an office chair, for example.