Scientific Discussion Of Soaps And Detergents

Discussion and Scientific Explanation

The first goal of this project was to create both soaps and detergents and compare the properties found in each. In order to do this, we had to decide pick three materials to make soap with. We chose to use lard, vegetable oil, and olive oil. We had to use oil because soap uses an oil to make insoluble substances soluble, which is why soaps are effective at cleaning. After we obtained our oil bases, we added sodium hydroxide and glycerol. The sodium hydroxide allows the substance to actually become clean, as oil is a hydrophobic agent, which means it would be ineffective in cleaning alone, because most substances repel it. The solution was heated, with stirring, until it became thick. Next, sodium chloride was added. This causes the soap to precipitate, allowing for it to be filtered easier. We next filtered our solution, separating the soap, and the wastewater, and saving both. We left them to dry for a week.

In general, soap is made by a process called saponification. This process needs a base, for which we used sodium hydroxide that must be hydrolyzed to a triglyceride. A triglyceride is an ester that comes from glycerol. This ester undergoes hydrolysis, which causes the ester to split into an acid and an alcohol. Hydrolysis is the reaction with water. However, this reaction would be too slow, so a weak acid, or weak alkali is added to make the process faster. An alkali is more useful, because this reaction can only go one way. Animal fats, such as lard, are more saturated than both vegetable oil and olive oil. A saturated triglyceride is one whose carbon bonds are only single bonds, and whose carbons are bonded to hydrogens. An unsaturated triglyceride contains one or more single or do...

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... released into the environment, high concentrations can have severe negative effects, polluting many different ecosystems, particularly those in water, such as lakes, and rivers. Since detergent method two has the highest equivalence point, and therefore the highest concentration, this is the most dangerous to the environment, and detergent method one is the least harmful.

We made the mistake of not separating the filtrate of the olive oil and the filtrate of the vegetable oil. This means we do not know for sure if one of these is actually the best, and our results were skewed due to the combining of the two. However, we believe the properties of vegetable oil and olive oil are similar enough to assume neither would be the best solution. Human error could occur when measuring amounts, and error might have occurred by not putting the filter paper in exactly right.