Re: gasoline and styrofoam

There is an old adage in chemistry:  "like dissolves like".

Styrofoam is polystyrene that has been puffed up with a gas into a 
foamy material that hardens.  Much of it is gas trapped in bubbles,
which is why it is so light.

Polystyrene itself is a hydrocarbon, which means it is made up only
of carbon and hydrogen atoms bound together.  Since "like dissolves
like," a hydrocarbon would be likely to dissolve this substance.
Gasoline is a hydrocarbon, and as you'd predict, polystyrene dissolves
in it.