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5.1
Soaps and Detergents
Soap
Soaps
Sodium or potassium salts of long-chain fatty
acids that contain 12 to 18 carbon atoms per
molecule.
General formula – RCOO-Na+ / RCOO-K+
R = an alkyl group
– containing 12 or 18 carbon atoms
Soap preparation process
Made from animal fats (cows or goat) and
vegetable oils (palm oil, olive oil and
coconut oil)
Prepared by hydrolyzing fats or oils under
alkaline condition
The reaction is called saponification
Saponification
Saponification
Process involves boiling fats or oils with
concentrated sodium hydroxide solution or
concentrated potassium hydroxide solution
to produce glycerol and the salts of fatty
acids which are soaps
The general equation
• The fats and oils are hydrolysed first to form
glycerol and fatty acids
• The acids then react with an alkali to form
the corresponding sodium and potassium
salts
When concentrated KOH solution /
concentrated NaOH solution, a potassium
soap /potassium palmitate is formed
Potassium soaps are softer, milder than
sodium soaps. Used for bathing
Experiment:
Preparation of soaps
1. 10 cm3 of palm oil is poured into beaker.
2. 50 cm3 of 5 moldm-3 sodium hydroxide
solution is added to the palm oil.
3. The mixture is heated until it boils.
Mixture is stirred with glass rod.
4. The mixture is boiled for 5 minutes (until
the layer of oil disappears).
5. Bunsen burner is turned off. The mixture
is left to cool.
6. 100 cm3 of distilled water and 3 spatula of
sodium chloride are added to the mixture.
[Soap is precipitated by adding NaCl.
NaCl lowers the solubility of soap in water]
7. The mixture is boiled for another 5
minutes. The mixture is allowed to cool.
8. Soap is filtered out. Soap is washed with
little distilled water.
9. Soap is pressed between a few pieces of
filter paper to dry it.
Detergent
Detergent – any cleaning agent that is not
a soap
Made form synthetic resources such as
petroleum
Detergents are usually sodium salts of
sulphonic acid
The general formula of 2 common
detergents are:
The cleansing action of soap and
detergent
Ability of soap and detergent:
to lower the surface tension of water
to emulsify oil or grease
to hold them in suspension in water
This ability is due to the structure of soaps
and detergents
When soap is dissolved in water, it
dissociates to form soap anions and
sodium cations
Hydrophobic hydrophilic
In water, detergent dissolves to form
detergent anions and sodium cations
Example:
Sodium alkyl sulphate
Hydrophobic hydrophilic
Sodium alkylbenzene sulphonate
Hydrophobic Hydrophilic