I am asking this for a friend because we cannot find the answer in google (but did learn a lot about cocaine, dj mixers, bread, concrete and ligers).
Seems like there must be a term/principle/something for this thing:
It's easier to mix cocoa powder into a tiny bit of water than a whole cup of
water.
Is it easier to blend two things of different textures or consistencies or forms when
the amounts of each type are quite different? When the wet thing is much less?
For example:
In making a tea blend that involves two main textures: powder and granules, it's easier to mix the powder with the granules when I do all the powder at once and just a small amount of granules, then add that mix to the rest of granules.
What are the words for this?
Best Answer
There exists a term in organic chemistry called miscibility which is the property of substances to mix in any and all proportions and form a homogenous substance. Now, I believe this word is a start in the right direction in our search for what seems is a highly specific and seldomly used term (if it even exists?), being it feels as it fits in the same scope.
Our instinct could now be simply to negate the word miscibility - immiscibility. But this isn't right either as it means that our substances will not mix.
I guess we could say that both of these terms are partially correct, meaning our substances are partially miscible, or better yet conditionally miscible - conditioned on the proportions used.
I realise that this isn't exactly what you were looking for, as it doesn't carry the desired connotation merely on it's own, but I believe it's as close as we can get.