Question

Toilet soap is a mixture of __________.
(A)- Calcium and sodium salts of fatty acids
(B)- Fatty acids and glycerol
(C)- Sodium salts of fatty acids
(D)- Potassium salts of fatty acids

Answer 1

Hint: Soaps are the sodium or potassium salts of higher fatty acids which are chemically denoted as ${\text{RCOONa}}$ or ${\text{RCOOK}}$, where R is the long alkyl chain which is equal to ${{\text{C}}_{{\text{12 - 18}}}}{{\text{H}}_{25 - 37}}$. Alkyl group present on the soap depends on the type of soap we want.

Complete step by step solution: Toilet soap is a mixture of Potassium salts of fatty acids, because of the following reason:
Soaps which are formed from the mixture of Potassium salts of fatty acids are liquid in nature, which is easy to use for toilet purpose.
Potassium salts of fatty acids are worked as insecticides, fungicides, etc. so due to the properties of Potassium salts of fatty acids we used it in the formation of toilet soaps.

Additional information: Soaps are also classified as hard soaps and soft soaps on the following basis:
Hard soaps are the sodium salts of higher fatty acids and,
Soft soaps are the potassium salts of higher fatty acids.

Note: As from the theoretical definition we know that soaps are the sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids, so from this criteria option (c) & option (d) will be correct. But here you should go with the option (d) only by keeping in mind the use of toilet soap and properties of potassium salts of fatty acids.