When a sufficient amount of SDSis dissolved in water, several physicalproperties of bulk solution aresignificantly changed, particularly thesurface tension (which decreases) andthe conductivity of the solution. Thesesignificantly changes do not occuruntil a minimum bulk SDSconcentration is reached. Thesephenomena are attributed to theassociation of solute molecules intoclusters known as micelles. Theconcentration at which micellizationoccurs is known as the critical micelleconcentration, generally abbreviatedCMC..