1

St.JOSEPH’S HIGH SCHOOL

CHEMISTRY PROJECT

2017-2018

FOAMING CAPACITY OF SOAPS

Submitted to:-
Dr.Anup Sahay
Mr.Basant Kumar

Submitted by:-
Shivani Bharti
Class:- XII
Sec:-“B”
Roll No:-
Class Roll No:-34
 2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The following project is on “FOAMING CAPACITY OF

SOAPS” which is part of C.B.S.E. Syllabus for class “XII”.

Primarily I would thank god for being able to

complete this project with success. Then I would
like to thanks my chemistry teacher “Dr.Anup
Sahay” and “Mr. Basant Kumar”, Whose
valuable guidance has been the once that helped
me patch in this project and make it full proof
success, his suggestions and his instructions
has served as the major contributor towards the
completion of the project.
Then I would like to thanks my parents and
friends who helped me with their valuable
guidance has been helpful in various phases of
the completion of project.

Student’s Signature
 3

Contents
Acknowledgement------------------------------------------2
Content--------------------------------------------------------3
Preface---------------------------------------------------------4
Soap------------------------------------------------------------5-6
Preparation of Soap----------------------------------------7-9
Advantages & Disadvantages of Soap-----------------10
Detergent----------------------------------------------------11
Preparation of Detergent--------------------------------12
Advantages & Disadvantages of detergent---------13
Difference between soap & detergent---------------14
Working of Soap & Detergent--------------------------15-16
Experiments to test foaming capacity----------------17-21
Observation--------------------------------------------------22
Conclusion---------------------------------------------------23
Certificate----------------------------------------------------24
 4

Preface
Soaps and detergents remove dirt and grease
from skin and clothes. Soaps are the Na & K
salts of higher fatty acids such as Palmitic acid,
Stearic and Oleic acid.
The cleansing action of soaps depends on the
solubility of the long alkyl chain in grease and
that of the –COONa & -COOK part in water.
Whenever Soap is applied on a dirty wet cloth,
the non polar alkyl group dissolves in grease
while the polar –COONa part dissolves in water.
The washing ability of salt depends on foaming
capacity as well as the water use in cleansing.
The salt of Ca & Mg disrupts the formation of
micelle. The presence of such salts makes the
water hard and the water called as hard water.
Sodium Carbonate when added to hard water
reacts with Ca & Mg salts and precipitates them
out. Therefore Sodium Carbonate is used in the
treatment of hard water.
 5

Soap
Soap is an ionic surfactant used in conjuction with
water for washing and cleansing. Soap consists of Na
& K salts of fatty acids and is obtained by reacting
common oils or fats with a strong alkaline in a
process known as “SAPONIFICATION”. The fats are
hydrolyzed by the base, yielding alkali salts of fatty
acids(CRUDE SOAP) and (GLYCEROL).

The general formula of soap is:-

CH3-(CH2)n-COONa

Hard soap & generally appears as a solid

OR

CH3-(CH2)n-COOK

Soft Soap & generally appears in liquid form

A Soap consists of two parts:-

 A long hydrocarbon chain.

 A short ionic part containing COONa or COOK
group. The soap molecule has tadpole like
structure, the long which is insoluble in water
but soluble in grease & oil. Now the dirt in cloth
 6

is insoluble in water but soluble in grease the

long hydrocarbon part goes along with soap
micelles.

Transparent soaps are prepared by dissolving the

soap in ethanol and then evaporated the excess
solvent. Medicated soaps (e.g. Neem Soap) are
soft soaps and are prepared by adding some
antiseptics like Dettol, Savlon e.t.c. Toilet soaps
are prepared by using better grade of fats &
oils. Shaving soaps contains glycerol to prevent
rapid drying.
 7

Preparation of soap
In cold process and hot process soap making heat
may be required for saponification. Cold process soap
making takes place at a sufficient temperature to
ensure the liquification of the fats being used. Unlike
cold processed soap, hot processed soap can be used
right away because the alkali and fat saponify more
quickly at the higher temperature used in hot
process soap making. Hot process soap making was
used when the purity of alkali was unreliable. Cold
process soap making requires exact measurement of
alkali and fats amount and computing their ratio,
using saponification charts to ensure that the
finished product is mild and skin friendly.

Hot process:-

In the hot process method, alkali and fats are boiled

together at 80-100°c until saponification occurs,
which the soap maker can determine by test or by
eye. After saponification has occurred, the soap is
sometimes precipitated from the solution by adding
salt, and the excess liquid drained off. The hot, soft
soap is then spooned into a mould.
 8

Cold process:-

A cold process soap maker first looks up the

saponification value of the fats being used on a
saponification chart, which is then used to calculate
the appropriate amount of alkali.

Excess unreacted alkali in the soap will result in a

very high pH and can burn or irritate skin. Not
enough alkali and the soap greasy.

The alkali is dissolved in water. Then oils are heated,

or melted if they are solid at room temperature.
Once both substances have cooled to approximately
100-110°f(37-43°c), and are no more then 10°f
(-5.5°c) apart they may be combined. This alkali-fats
mixture is stirred until ”trace”. There are varying
levels of trace. After much stirring, the mixture
turns to the consistency of a thin pudding. “Trace”
corresponds roughly to viscosity. Essential and
fragrance oils are added at light trace.
 9

Advantages & disadvantages of soap

Advantages:-

 It is biodegradable i.e. it can be decomposed by

microbes.
 It is milder on skin than the detergents.

Disadvantages:-

 Soaps cannot be use in acidic solutions since, the

acids precipitate free fatty acids which adhere
to fabrics and hence, prevent the process of
dying.
 They are useless for washing cloth in sea water.
 If water is hard, then a lot of soap is wasted
because Ca & Mg salts fatty acids are insoluble in
water (which adhere to clothing and blocks the
ability of soaps to remove oil & grease from
cloths).
 10

Detergent
Detergent or synthetic detergent or syndets are
sodium salts of long chains benzene sulphonic acid or
alkyl hydrogen sulpahate. They contain both oilphilic
or hydrophobic oilphobic or hydrophilic end.

CH3-(CH2)n-C6H4-SO3Na or CH3-(CH2)n-CH2-OSO3Na

Detergents having straight hydrocarbon chains are

easily degraded by micro-organism and hence are
called biodegradable detergent. However detergent
having branched hydrocarbon chain are not easily
decomposed by micro-organism are non-
biodegradable detergents.
 11

Preparation of detergents

Detergents are made by treating a benzene type

compound with BENZOIC ACID, SULPHURIC ACID
followed by neutralization with alkali to convert the
product to its sodium salt.

Synthetic detergents are prepared by reacting

hydrocarbon with petroleum and concentrated
sulphuric acid and converting product into sodium
salt.

Example :-

 Sodium p.dodecyl
C12H25SO3Na
 Sodium hauzelsulphate
C12H25-o-SO3Na
 12

Advantages & Disadvantages Of detergent

Advantages:-

 These can be used in both hard and soft water.

 The aqueous solutions of detergent are neutral
and therefore can be used for washing all types
of fabrics without any damage.
 They are the salts of strong acids and are not
decomposed in acidic medium also.

Disadvantages:-

 Some detergents are not biodegradable i.e.,

can’t be decomposed by micro-organisms like
bacteria and hence create pollution of water
bodies like rivers and lakes.
 13

Difference between

soap
&
Detergent

SL.NO. SOAPS DETERGENT

1. Soaps are not suitable Detergents are

for washing purpose when suitable for washing
water is hard. purpose when water is
hard.

2. Soaps are biodegradable . Detergents are non-

biodegradable.

3. Sodium & Potassium salts Detergents are long

of long fatty acid are chain of benzene
present in soap. sulphuric acid or alkyl
acid or hydrogen
sulphate.
 14

Working of soap and detergent

When used for cleaning, soap/detergent allows
insoluble particles to became soluble in water and
then be rinsed away.

For Example:-

Oil/fats is insoluble in water but when a couple of

drops of dish soap are added to the mixture, the
oil/fats apparently disappears. The insoluble oil/fats
molecules became associated inside micelles, tiny
spheres formed from soap/detergent molecules with
polar hydrophilic groups on the outside and encasing a
lipophilic (fat-attracting) pocket, which shields the
oil/fats molecules from the water making it soluble.
Anything that is soluble will be washed away with the
water.

Most soaps/detergents remove from grease and

other dirt because of its surface components or
surjuctants. Surjuctants have a molecular structure
that acts as a link between water and the dirt
particles, loosing the particles from the underlying
fibres or other surface because its one end is
hyfdrophobic while the other ends is hydrophilic.
 15

Micelles

The molecules of soaps and detergents are usually

smaller than the colloidal particles. However, in
concentrated solutions, these molecules associate
and from aggregates of colloidal sizes. The
aggregates of soaps/detergents are strong
electrolytes and when dissolved in water they furnish
ions e.g.

C17H35COONa→C17H35COO⁻+Na⁺

The negative ion aggregates to form micelles of

colloidal size. The negative ion has a long
hydrocarbon chain and a polar group (-COO⁻/SO3⁺) at
one end. In micelles formation, long hydrocarbon
which is insoluble in water is directed towards the
 16

centre while the soluble part is on the surface in

contact with water (as shown in figure). The charge
on the micelles is responsible for the stability of this
system . The cleaning action of soap/detergent is due
to micelles.
 17

Test of foaming capacity

Of

Soap & detergent

{EXPERIMENTAL PART}

AIM:-

To compare foaming capacity of soap depends upon the

nature of the soap and its concentration. This may be compared
by shaking equal volumes of solution of different sample having
the same concentration with the same force for the same
amount of time. The solution are then allowed to stand when the
foam produced during shaking disappears in each sample is
determined. The longer the time taken for disappearance of the
foam for the given sample for soap, greater is its foaming
capacity or cleansing action.

APPARATUS REQUIRED:-

Beaker, Glass rod, Wire gauge, Stop

watch, Tripod stand, Test tube e.t.c.

CHEMICAL REQUIRED:-

Sample of soap & detergent, Distilled

water & Sodium Carbonate.
 18

PROCEDURE:-

1. Eight labelled beakers are taken. The given sample of each

soap & detergent are weighed and dissolved separately in
50ml of distilled water in each beaker.
2. Eight dried and labelled test tubes are then arranged in
test tube stand.
3. About 1ml of soap solution is poured in test tubes having
distilled water. One by one test tubes are shaken
vigorously. The time taken for the formation of foam is
measured using a stopwatch. The process is repeated for
each solution in different test tubes.
 19

observations

For Soap

SL.NO. TRADEMARK TIME TAKEN(S)

1. Lux 50
2. Lifeboy 49
3. Pears 75
4. Dove 63

For Detergent

SL.NO. TRADEMARK TIME TAKEN(S)

1. PATANJALI 81
2. TIDE 82
3. SURF EXCEL 90
4. GHARI 70
 20

CONCLUSION

THE CLEANING PROPERTY OF THE SOAPS TAKEN IS IN

THE ORDER:-

PEARS>DOVE>LUX>LIFEBOY

We conclude that PEARS has the highest foaming capacity.

THE CLEANING PROPERTY OF THE DETERGENTS IS IN THE

ORDER:-

SURF EXCEL>TIDE>PATANJALI>GHARI

We conclude that SURF EXCEL has the highest foaming

capacity.

OR

Highest cleaning capacity.

CERTIFICATE

We certified that the work embodied in the present project is

the student’s(details are given below) Ownwork and that it was
carried out under our supervision.

Name:- Shivani Bharti

Class:- XII

Sec:- “B”
 21

Class roll no:- 34

Board roll no:-

Session:-2017-2018

We also certified that the work was done at chemical

laboratory ST.JOSEPH’S HIGH SCHOOL, Patna.

Signature of Teacher