TABLE OF CONTENT

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CONTENT
Table Of Content
Abstract
Introduction
Objectives
Theory
Apparatus
Procedures
Results
Sample of calculations
Discussions
Conclusions
Recommendations
References
Appendices

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ABSTRACT
The experiment was conducted to prepare soap. The properties of the prepared soap are then
compared with the synthetic detergent. The properties that are being compared are the
precipitation, emulsification and cleaning abilities. From the experiment that had been
conducted, it can be conclude that soap has the properties of emulsifying oil whereas the

detergent does not. Besides that, the abilities of forming precipitate can also be seen clearly in
the soap solution whereas the detergent does not forms any precipitate. Thus, the experiment is
completed and is successfully conducted.

INTRODUCTION
Soap is manufactured much like it was back then, where fats and oils are technically
heated with the presence of a strong base to produce fatty acid salts and glycerol in a process
termed as saponification. As the matter of fact, the salt of a fatty acid is the soap, which is soft
and waxy material that brush up the ability for cleaning purpose of water. A positive ion, usually
Na+ or Ka+, and a negative ion usually the anions of long-chained carboxylic acids yielded by
hydrolysis of either animals or vegetables fats.
In other words, soaps is a generic term of sodium or potassium salts of long-chain organic
acids made from naturally occurring esters in animal fats and vegetables oils. All organic acids
contain CRCO2H functional group, where R is a shorthand notation for methyl, CH 3-, ethyl
CH3CH2-, Propyl, CH3CH2-CH2-, or more complex hydrocarbon chains called alkyl groups.
Chemists use the R shorthand notation because the group are very large and the hydrocarbon
chain has little effect on the compounds chemical reactivity. All esters contain RCO 2R
functional group.
The R groups in soaps are hydrocarbon chains that generally contain 12 to 18 carbon
atoms. Sodium fatty acids such as lauric (vegetable oil) palmatic (palm oil) and stearic (animal
fat) acids are just a few examples of soaps
The hydrocarbon chain in soaps may contain saturated or unsaturated chains. Sodium
salts are usually solid therefore; most bars of soap are of sodium salts. Potassium salts are the
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basis of liquid soaps, shaving creams, and greases. Fats and vegetable oil are triglycerides.
Triglycerides in an ester derived from fatty acids.
Saponification is the basis hydrolysis of an ester producing a carboxylic acid salt and an
alcohol. A lone pair of electrons on the OH- is attracted to the partially positively charged C atom
in the C=O bond in the ester. The C-OR bond breaks generating a carboxylic acid (RCO 2H) and
an alcohol (ROH). In the presence of carboxylic are converted to their sodium salts (RCO- Na+).
During World War 1, the first synthetic detergent has been produced, mainly because of
the urge to find another cleaning agent that would react in hard water. A variety of detergents can
be found today, which generally contain surfactants, a builder, and other additives such as
bleaching agents and enzymes. The surfactants are the parts that are responsible for the cleaning
properties of that particular detergent. Some of them may be ionic, cationic or even non-ionic.
The builders indeed are compounds responsible for removing the corresponding calcium and
magnesium ions in hard water.
However, there are two detergents which may not be as safe as it may concern, mostly
that contains phosphates. Such detergents will end up in wastewater and cause excessive growth
of algae and other aquatic plants. When those die, bacteria that present in the dead matter
consume oxygen which results in the lack of oxygen left for the fish and other aquatic lives.

OBJECTIVES
The purposes of conducting this experiment are to prepare soap with using mineral oils
and to study and compare the properties of soap and synthetic detergent.

THEORY
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Soap is the salt of weak acid. Most organic acid are weak acids. Soap is a mixture of
sodium salts of various naturally occurring fatty acids. The general formula for fat is shown as
the figure below, where R-COOH represents fatty acid.

Soap is produced through saponification process where the fatty acid are reacted with
sodium salts. A generalized saponification reaction is shown below:

The cleansing action of soaps results from two effects. Soaps are wetting agents that
reduce the surface tension of water, allowing the water molecules to encounter the dirty object.
They are also emulsifying agents. Dirt frequently consists of grease oil along with other organic

species. In general, the organic species are non-polar. Water is a polar species. Thus, these two
cannot dissolve in each other. However, soaps cross the boundary between polar and non-polar.
Soaps molecule consists of a long non-polar tail (the hydrocarbon chain of fatty acid) and a
highly polar end (the ionic group COO -). The non polar site, also called as the hydrophobic tail
(water hating) is able to dissolve the grease and dirt whereas the polar or hydrophilic end (water
loving) is attracted to water molecules.

The non- polar portion of the soap is commonly represented with a zigzags line and the
polar head with a circle.

Non-polar

Polar
A micelle, a spherical shape is formed resulting from the negatively charged heads of the
soap molecules. They then orient themselves, where the non-polar tails rearrange towards the
centre of the micelle and the hydrophilic site facing the water. In the presence of oil or dirt, the
non-polar head interact with them, and gathered it to the centre of the micelle. This is how soap

cleans technically. When rinsed with water, the micelle together with the dirt washed away. Soap
is theoretically acting as an emulsifying agent, where emulsion is the dispersion of a liquid in a
second immiscible liquid.

WATER

Water supplies in certain areas are acidic as a result of acid rain or pollution, or hard due
to the dissolved mineral content. Both acidic and hard water reduced the cleansing action of the
sop. Soap is the salt o a weak acid. With the presence of stronger acid, the sodium salt is
converted to an insoluble organic acid.

APPARATUS

Test tubes with rack

pH meter
beakers
measuring cylinder
6

stirrer
hot plate

MATERIALS

Stock soap solution

Distilled water
Synthetic detergent (dynamo)
Mineral oils
CaCl2 solution, MgCl2 solution, FeCl2 solution
1 M HCl
Tomato sauce
Cloth strip

PROCEDURE
Part A: Soap preparation
1. 25 mL of vegetable oil is placed in a 250-mL Erlenmeyer flask. 20 mL of ethanol and 25 mL
of 6 M sodium hydroxide solution are added to the flask. The mixture is stirred using a stirring
bar to mix the contents of the flask
2. The 250-mL flask is heated in a 600 mL boiling-water bath.

3. The mixture is stirred continuously during the heating process to prevent the mixture from
foaming. If the mixture should foam to the point of nearly overflowing, the flask is removed
from the boiling-water bath until the foaming subsides, then heating is continued. The mixture is
heated for 20-30 minute or until the alcohol odor is no longer detectable.
4. The paste-like mixture is removed from the water bath and the flask is cooled in an ice bath
for 10-15 minutes.
5. While the flask is cooling, the vacuum filtration apparatus is assembled as shown in the figure
below. The vacuum flask is secured to a ring stand with a utility clamp to prevent the apparatus
from toppling over.

6. A piece of filter paper is weighed to the nearest 0.001 g and the mass is recorded. The filter
paper is placed inside the Buchner funnel. The paper is moistened with water so that it fits flush
in the bottom of the funnel.
7. Once the flask has cooled, 150 mL of saturated sodium chloride (NaCl) solution is added to
the flask to "salt out" the soap.

8. The water at the aspirator is slowly turned on. The mixture from the flask is poured into the
Buchner funnel. Once all of the liquid has filtered through the funnel, the soap was washed with
10 mL of ice-cold water. The suction filtration is continued until all of the water is removed from
the soap.
9. The soap is removed from the funnel and pressed between two paper towels to dry it. The
filter paper and dried soap are weighed, and the mass is recorded to the nearest 0.001 g and the
mass of the soap determined by difference and the mass is then recorded.
Part B: Comparison of soap and detergent properties- precipitation and emulsification.
1. A stock soap solution is prepared by dissolving 2g of the prepared soap in 100 mL of boiling,
distilled water. The mixture is stirred until the soap has dissolved and the solution is allowed to
cool.
2. Step 1 is repeated using 2 g of synthetic detergent. When both solutions are cool, the pH of
each solution is determined using pH paper.
3. Three test tubes are labeled as test tube 1, 2, and 3. 4 drops of mineral oil are added to each
test tube. 5 mL of distilled water is added to test tube 1. 5 mL of stock soap solution is added to
test tube 2. 5 mL of stock synthetic detergent is added to test tube 3.
4. Each solution is mixed by shaking and let stand for three to five minutes. The solutions, if any,
which emulsifies the oil by forming a single layer, is noted.
5. The mixtures are poured into the Waste Container. The three test tubes are cleaned and dried.
6. Three more test tubes are labeled as test tube 1, 2, and 3. 2 mL of stock soap solution is placed
in each of the three test tubes. 2 mL of 1% CaCl2 solution is added to test tube 1. 2 mL of 1%
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MgCl2 solution is added to test tube 2. 2 mL of l% FeCl2 solution is added to test tube 3. Each
test tube is shaken to mix the solutions. The observations are recorded.
7. 4 drops of mineral oil are added to each of the test tubes in Step 6. Each test tube is shaken to
mix the solutions and the solutions are left to stand for three five minutes. The solutions, if any,
which emulsifies the oil by forming a single layer, is noted.
8. Steps 6-7 are repeated using 2 mL of stock detergent solution. The solutions that precipitated
are observed.
9. The solutions, if any, which emulsifies the oil by forming a single layer, is noted.
10. The mixtures are poured into the Waste Container. The test tubes are cleaned and dried.
11. 5 ml of stock soap solution is poured in cine clean test tube and 5 mL of stock detergent
solution in a second test tube. 1 M HC1 is added one drop at a time to both solutions until the pH
in each test tube is equal to 3. The number of drops of acid added to each mixture is counted.
Any precipitate formed in either mixture is observed.
12. 1 drop of mineral oil is added to each test tube in Step 11. Each test tube is shaken to mix the
solution. Any emulsification formed in either mixture is observed.
Part C: Comparison of cleaning abilities of soap and detergents
1. The three beakers are cleaned, dried and labeled. Then 20 mL of stock soap solution (from
Step 1 in section 7.4.2) is placed in the first beaker. After that, 20 mL of stock detergent solution
(from Step 2 in Part B) is placed in the 2nd beaker. 20 mL of a commercial liquid is added in a
third beaker.

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2. Three cloth test strips that have been soaked in tomato sauce are obtained and then one strip is
placed in each of the beakers. Repeatedly each solution is stirred with a stirrer bar for 5 minutes.
3. The cloth strips is removed from the soap and detergent solution and then the excess water is
squeezed out. Each cloth strip is observed and compared to determine their relative cleanliness.

RESULTS
Soap preparation
Mass of filter (g)
Mass of filter paper + soap (g)
Mass of soap recovered

0.591
30.177
29.586

Soap

Comparison of soap and detergent properties

Brand name of synthetics detergent
pH of soap solution

Dynamo
10.05
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pH of synthetics detergent solution

7.51

Test tube

Observations
Oil layer formed

4 drops of oil + 5mL of

distilled water oil droplets
formed
4 drops of oil + 5mL of
soap solution oil dissolves in
solution

Oil emulsified

4 drops of oil + 5mL of

detergent solution very tiny oil
droplets and bubbles formed

Tiny oil droplets formed

System
CaCl2
MgCl2
FeCl3
Acidic

Precipitate
Soap

X
x
x
x
x

12

Oil emulsified
Soap
X

X
x

Reaction of stock soap with CaCl2, MgCl2, and FeCl3

Reaction of synthetic detergent with CaCl2, MgCl2, and FeCl3

Number of drops of acid

Detergent
(3 drops)
Soap
(5 drops)

3.91

3.21

2.73

6.92

6.28

3.10

Cleaning abilities
Materials
Soap
Stock detergent
Detergent

Cleaning abilities
Clean
Most clean
Clean

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2.64

Cleaning abilities of stock soap, synthetic detergent and detergent

DISCUSSION
Water that contains calcium ions, Ca2+, and magnesium ions, Mg2+, is said to be hard
water. These ions are leached from ground water flowing over rock formations containing
limestone and other minerals. Hard water interferes with the cleaning action of soaps. From the
observation of the lab conducted, the soap formed precipitates in all of the solutions added
(CaCl2, MgCl2 and FeCl2) as well emulsifies the oil. This may not appear as good characteristic
for soap as a cleaning agent if it forms precipitate and emulsifies oil on cloth.
When soap is added to hard water, insoluble compounds or precipitate are formed.
However, when the water containing these ions is boiled, hard water leaves a deposit of calcium
carbonate, CaCO3. This scale can be seen builds up in tea kettles and inside hot water heaters.
Different from soaps, detergent has the abilities to dissolve these compounds causing no
precipitate to be formed. Detergent is a better cleaning agent as it forms no precipitation and
does not emulsifies the oil. Thus, grease and dirt can be cleaned without involving any
precipitation or oil emulsification. Nowadays, it can be seen that detergents have undeniably

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replaced soap for many cleaning jobs. However, some of these synthetic detergents are not
biodegradable.

CONCLUSION
The soap is successfully prepared. The properties of the soaps which are precipitation,
emulsification and cleaning abilities were compared with detergent through this experiment. The
results and changes are observed.
In a nutshell, we can conclude that soap has the abilities to emulsify oil whereas detergent
does not. The soap will also form precipitate whereas detergent does not. This may not appear as
good characteristics for soap as a cleaning agent.

RECOMMENDATIONS
There are a few recommendations that will improve observations.
Firstly, the experiment should at least be repeated twice in order to get more accurate
observations. The observations might be more convincing if the average is taken.
Secondly, the pH reading must be conducted at same temperature for pH is varying at
different temperatures.
Avoid contact with any chemical reagents involved.

REFERENCES

Experiments in General Chemistry Featuring Measuring Net, Bobby Shanton, Lin

Zhu, C.H. Atwood, 2005, Brooks/Cole Laboratory Series, USA.

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Organic Chemistry (third edition), R. T. Morrison & R. N. Boyd,1973, Allyn and

Bacon, Boston.
Fundamentals of General, Organic and Biological Chemistry (third edition), J.
McMurry, M.E. Castellion, 1999, Prentice Hall, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

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