120 Part 8

Chapter 35 Detergents

A. Multiple Choice Questions (b) (i) CH3CH2CH2OH(l)

 K2Cr2O7/H+(aq)
1. B. COO CH3(CH2)16—   CH3CH2COOH(l)
2. B. The head of a detergent particle is (ii) CH3CH2COOH(l)
hydrophilic while the tail is
hydrophobic. NaOH(aq)

3. A. (3) only
4. D. (1), (3) and (4) only CH3CH2COONa(aq) + H2O(l)
5. A. 50 cm3 burette (c) Heating
6. D. (2) and (4) only (d) No. This is because its hydrophobic
7. B. It functions well in hard water hydrocarbon chain is too short to
8. A. It works effectively with soaps in dissolve in oil.
cleaning process.
9. B. (1) and (4) only 3. HKCEE Question
10. D. It acts as an emulsifier in the
cleaning process. 4. Saponification is the process of production
11. C. (1), (2) and (3) only of soaps. It involves the following steps:
12. B. True, True 1. Mix up fats or oils and excess
13. C. False, True concentrated strong alkali (e.g. 5 M
NaOH).
B. Fill in the Blanks 2. Heat the mixture gently with a
Bunsen flame and stir it with a glass
1. Detergents rod until one miscible layer appears.
2. soap, soapless Fat (or oil) + Alkali
3. wetting agents, emulsifying agents  Soap + Glycerol
4. hydrophilic, hydrophobic
5. Salting out is the process of production of
C. Comprehensive Questions soaps. It involves the following steps:
1. Cool down the mixture in air.
1. Bath soaps are made from potassium 2. Add saturated or concentrated
hydroxide. They are used for bathing and sodium chloride solution to the
washing hands because they are softer and mixture and continue stirring.
milder. 3. When a solid appears and its amount
Laundry soaps are made from sodium produced remains unchanged, filter
hydroxide. They are usually used for the mixture and wash the residue 2
washing clothes because they are harder. or 3 times with a small amount of
distilled water.
2. (a) A: Butanoic acid
B: Sodium butanoate

Chapter 35 Solutions (EE).doc


6. (a) Saponification
(b) Production of soaps involves two
steps: saponification and salting-out
of soap.
Saponification:
Procedures:
1. Mix up fats or oils and excess
concentrated strong alkali (e.g.
5 M NaOH).
2. Heat the mixture gently with a
Bunsen flame and stir it with a
glass rod until one miscible
layer appears.
Fat (or oil) + Alkali
 Soap + Glycerol
Salting-out of soap:
Procedures:
1. Cool down the mixture in air.
2. Add saturated or concentrated
sodium chloride solution to the
mixture and continue stirring.
3. When a solid appears and its
amount produced remains
unchanged, filter the mixture
and wash the residue 2 or 3
times with a small amount of
distilled water.
(c)
(d) When one miscible layer appears,
the reaction is complete.
7. (a) Lather is good for cleaning because
it helps to suspend the dirts
preventing it from returning to the
surface. In rinsing, the emulsion is
washed away.
Chapter 35 121
(b) (i) Lime water is hard because it
contains calcium ions.
(ii) Tap water in Hong Kong is
soft because it does not form
scum.
(iii) Solution X is hard because it
forms scum.
(c) Mg2+(aq) + 2CH3(CH2)16COO(aq)
anion of soap
 (CH3(CH2)16COO)2Mg(s)
scum
Ca2+(aq) + 2CH3(CH2)16COO(aq)
anion of soap
 (CH3(CH2)16COO)2Ca(s)
scum
(d) No scum will form in all test tubes.
8. (a) Brine (sodium chloride) has a much
higher solubility than soap in water.
When it is added to the resulting
solution, it reduces the solubility of
soap in water. Since the soap
produced is less dense than water, it
floats on the water surface.
(b) Water does not “wet” things well
because it does not spread out on a
surface easily. Water has a high
surface tension which is due to the
strong intermolecular forces
between water molecules.
When a soap or soapless detergent is
added to water, the solution formed
can spread out on the surface of an
article and wet it thoroughly. This is
because the soap particles separate
the water molecules and thus surface
tension is reduced.
Therefore, soaps and soapless
detergents help water wet articles
and they are wetting agents.
Chapter 35 Solutions (EE).doc
122 Part 8
(c) After wetting the clothes, the
oil-soluble tails of detergent
particles “insert” into the grease
while the water-soluble heads of
detergent particles remain in water.
The surrounding water molecules
attract the negatively charged
“heads” of detergent particles.
During stirring, the grease is lifted
off the surface of the article.
Upon continuous stirring, the grease
is broken into small droplets. They
remain suspended and separated as
an emulsion because of the
repulsion between the negative
charges on the heads of the
detergent particles.
The lather formed during stirring
also helps to suspend the dirt,
preventing the dirt from returning to
the surface. In rinsing, the emulsion
is washed away.
(d) (i) Scum is formed.
(ii) Mg2+(aq) +
2CH3(CH2)16COO(aq)
anion of soap
 (CH3(CH2)16COO)2Mg(s)
scum
Ca2+(aq) +
2CH3(CH2)16COO(aq)
anion of soap
 (CH3(CH2)16COO)2Ca(s)
scum
9. (a) Compound Y and Z
(b) For Y: CH3(CH2)15COONa
For Z: CH3(CH2)16COONa
(c) (i) 12n + 2n + 1 + 12 + 16  2 + 39.1
= 294.1
14n + 84.1 = 294.1
n = 15
(ii) CH3(CH2)14COOK
Chapter 35 Solutions (EE).doc
(d) (i) An increase in temperature is
measured.
(ii) CH3(CH2)14COO(aq) + H+(aq)
CH3(CH2)14COOH(aq)
10. HKCEE Question
11. Biodegradable detergents:
1. When biodegradable detergents are
decomposed, bacteria consume the
dissolved oxygen in water. If too
much oxygen is consumed, aquatic
life will be endangered.
2. Commercial detergents usually
contain builders to soften water and
prevent dirt from returning to the
articles (e.g. clothes). Builders are
phosphate salts, e.g. sodium
phosphate (Na3PO4), which are
nutrients for algae.
(Any one)
Non-biodegradable detergents:
As they cannot be decomposed by
micro-organisms, they could not be
decomposed in sewage treatment plants.
When discharged into rivers and seas,
non-biodegradable detergents produce
lather. Gradually, the lather becomes
persistent and thick foam. This thick foam
can damage machines and kill the aquatic
life.
12. HKCEE Question
13. (a) Detergents I and III.
This is because their water-soluble
heads are either a sulphate group
(OSO3) or a sulphonate group
(SO3).
(b) Detergents II and III.
This is because they do not have
branched chains.
(c) For Detergent I: Some lather is
formed.
 Chapter 35 123

For Detergent II: Little lather and a Description of the results:

lot of scum are formed. Detergent
For Detergent III: Some lather is
Soap Soapless detergent
formed.
(d) Water
Lather Scum Lather Scum
Hard plenty soap little soapless
water gives little plenty detergent gives nil
(e) Detergent III. lather plenty lather
Detergent III does not form scum Solid little soapless
Acidic
with hard water because the alkanoic nil detergent gives nil
solution
compounds formed from the anions acid form plenty lather
of the detergent and magnesium or
calcium ions are soluble in water. Explanation:
On the other hand, detergent III does Soaps have poor cleaning abilities in hard
not have branched chains, so it is water because they form useless scum.
biodegradable. Thus, it can be Hard water contains a relatively high
decomposed by micro-organisms. concentration of Mg2+(aq) ions and
Ca2+(aq) ions. Anions of soap (e.g.
14. HKCEE Question stearate) react with Mg2+(aq) ions and
Ca2+(aq) ions to form scum (e.g. calcium
D. Essay-type Questions stearate and magnesium stearate).
Chemical equations for the formation of
1. Guidelines to the essay: scum:
Desciptions of the experiment: Mg2+(aq) + 2CH3(CH2)16COO(aq)
Procedures: anion of soap
1. Prepare a soap solution and a  (CH3(CH2)16COO)2Mg(s)
soapless detergent with equal scum
concentrations.
2. Add about 30 cm3 of hard water and Ca2+(aq) + 2CH3(CH2)16COO(aq)
acidic solution (dilute hydrochloric anion of soap
acid ) in two separate conical flasks.
 (CH3(CH2)16COO)2Ca(s)
3. Add soap solution 1 cm3 at a time to
scum
hard water and then shake the
mixture after each addition.
However, soaps do not work well in
4. Add soap solution continuously
strongly acidic solutions. In acidic
until a permanent lather forms. A
environment, anions of soaps react with
permanent lather floats on water
hydrogen ions to form alkanoic acids. The
surface and lasts a long time.
alkanoic acids have a large molecular
5. Record the total volume of soap
mass and thus they are insoluble in water.
solution added.
6. Repeat steps 3  5 with tap water
and then with acidic solution.
7. Repeat steps 3  6 with soapless
detergent solution.

Chapter 35 Solutions (EE).doc

124 Part 8

H+(aq) + CH3(CH2)16COO(aq)
Hydrogen ion Stearate ion
(from strong (from soap)
acid)
CH3(CH2)16COOH(s)
Stearic acid
(an alkanoic acid)
Moreover, scum dissolves in acidic
solution in both soap and soapless
detergents:
2H+(aq) + (CH3(CH2)16COO)2Ca(s)
 2CH3(CH2)16COOH(aq) + Ca2+(aq)
2H+(aq) + CH3(CH2)16COO2Mg(s)
 2CH3(CH2)16COOH(aq) ) +
Mg2+(aq)
On the other hand, soapless detergents
have good cleaning abilities even in hard
water. Their anions do not form insoluble
compounds with magnesium ions and
calcium ions.
Moverover, soapless detergents have good
cleaning abilities even in strongly acidic
solutions. Their anions do not form
insoluble alkanoic acids with hydrogen
ions from strong acids.

Chapter 35 Solutions (EE).doc