Question

What is soap? Explain the preparation of soap giving chemical equations.

Answer 1

Hint: Soap is a combination of sodium salts and various fatty acids that exist naturally. Air bubbles added to a molten soap reduce the soap density and float on water. If potassium instead of sodium is found in fatty acid salt, it is a softer lather.

Complete step by step solution:
> The soap is a fatty acid (stearic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid) made of sodium or potassium salt. For laundry soaps sodium is high, while potassium salt is found in soaps used for bathing. Acid supplies the animal fat (mutton tallow) and vegetable oil for glycerol and ester compounds. Soap preparation: when heated with sodium hydroxide ( NaOH), sodium salt is produced by fatty acid and glycerol; vegetable oil (growth oil, castor oil etc.) or animal fat.
> Saponification is the name chosen for this method of preparing soap.
Vegetable oil or Animal fat $ + $ Sodium hydroxide $\xrightarrow[\Delta ]{{Saponifation}}$ Glycerol $ + $ Sodium salt of fatty acid (Soap).
> Whenever it is used for cleaning, soap solubilizes the particles and grime that can be isolated from the washing substance. As a surfactant, when soap is lathered with a limited amount of water, microorganisms are destroyed by the disorganization of their lipid membrane bilayer and the denatured protein. This is the process while hand washing. It emulsifies oils too, enabling them to be taken away by the flowing water. Unlike the preparation of detergents, soap is made by mixing fats and oils with a base and generated by adding chemical compounds into a mixer.

Note: The fatty acid form and carbon chain duration define the specific features of different soaps. A very hard, insoluble soap, sodium stearate (18 carbons), is mainly given by Tallow or Animal fats. Far more insoluble are fatty acids with longer strings. Zinc Stearate is primarily used to repel water in talcum powders.