Question

Distinguish between soap and detergent.

Answer 1

Hint: We must know that soap is a fatty acid whereas detergents are a mixture of surfactants. We use both of them for cleaning purposes. The properties of both soap and detergents are quite different from each other.

Complete Solution :
The difference between soaps and detergents is mentioned below:

Soap	Detergent
Soaps are potassium or sodium salts of carboxylic acid which are attached to a long aliphatic chain.	Detergents are the potassium and sodium salts of a long alkyl chain which ends with a sulfonate group.
Soap is a metal salt of fatty acid which is generally used for cleaning and lubrication.	Detergents are the mixture of surfactants and they are also used for cleaning purposes.
If there are minerals present in salt, they increase the effectiveness of soap.	If minerals are present in detergents, they will not affect the characteristics of detergents.
Soaps are easily biodegradable.	Detergents are not easily biodegradable.
Soaps are generally prepared using the plants and animals’ fats by the process of saponification.	Petrochemicals are found to be a plentiful source for the production of detergents.
Examples- sodium stearate, sodium palmitate etc.	Examples- deoxycholic acid and sodium lauryl sulfate.

Note: When we use soap in hard water there is a white solid which usually develops on clothes. This white solid is known as scum. This is formed due to calcium and magnesium ions which is present in the hard water. But if we use detergents no scum is formed. That’s why mostly detergents are used to wash clothes in hard water.