Foaming Capacity of Soaps

BY
Mohan Krishna
Class XII

2015-2016
 Foaming Capacity of Soaps

ARSHA VIDYA MANDIR

CHEMISTRY PROJECT
Certified to be the bonafide project work done by
Mohan Krishna of STD XII A in Arsha Vidya Mandir,
Chennai during the year 2015-16

Teacher-in-Charge
Register No...............

Submitted for the practical exam held

on...................
At Arsha Vidya Mandir, Chennai-600032

Principal Internal Examiner External

Examiner

Foaming Capacity of Soaps | CHEMISTRY PROJECT

 Foaming Capacity of Soaps

INDEX

S.No Topic Page no.

1 Introduction 4
2 Experiment 1 5-6
3 Experiment 2 7-8
4 Bibliography 9

Foaming Capacity of Soaps | CHEMISTRY PROJECT

 Foaming Capacity of Soaps

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Id like to express my greatest gratitude to the
people who have helped & supported me
throughout my project. I m grateful to Sir
Madhavan for his continuous support for the
project, from initial advice & encouragement to this
day.
Special thanks of mine goes to my respective
teachers and my fellow students who helped me in
completing the project by giving interesting ideas,
thoughts & made this project easy and accurate. I
would like to thank the school for providing me a
harmonious learning environment and quality
infrastructure for carrying out my research. I wish
to thanks my parents for their undivided support &
interest who inspired me & encouraged me to go
my own way, without which I would be unable to
complete my project. At last but not the least I want
to thanks my friends who appreciated me for my
work & motivated me and finally to God who made
all the things possible.
3

Foaming Capacity of Soaps | CHEMISTRY PROJECT

 Foaming Capacity of Soaps

INTRODUCTION
Soaps are sodium or potassium salts of higher fatty acids like stearic,
palmitic and oleic acids can be either saturated or unsaturated. They
contain a long hydrocarbon chain of about 10-20 carbon with one
carboxylic acid group as the functional group.

A soap molecule a tadpole shaped structure, whose ends have different

polarities. At one end is the long hydrocarbon chain that is non-polar and
hydrophobic, i.e., insoluble in water but oil soluble. At the other end is the
short polar carboxylate ion which is hydrophilic i.e., water soluble but
insoluble in oil and grease.

Long Hydrocarbon, Chain Hydrophobic and

end Hydrophilic end
when soap is shaken with water it becomes a soap solution that is
colloidal in nature. Agitating it tends to concentrate the solution on the
surface and causes foaming. This helps the soap molecules make a uni-
molecular film on the surface of water and to penetrate the fabric. The
long non-polar end of a soap molecule that are hydrophobic, gravitate
towards and surround the dirt (fat or oil with dust absorbed in it). The
short polar end containing the carboxylate ion, face the water away from
the dirt. A number of soap molecules surround or encircle dirt and grease
in a clustered structure called micelles, which encircles such particles
and emulsify them

Cleansing action of soaps decreases in hard water. Hard water contains

Calcium and magnesium ions which react with sodium carbonate to
produce insoluble carbonates of higher fatty acids.

Foaming Capacity of Soaps | CHEMISTRY PROJECT

 Foaming Capacity of Soaps

EXPERIMENT 1
PARAMETERS INTEXT
To compare the foaming capacities of five different
Aim: commercial soaps.

5 test tubes, 5 conical flasks (100 ml), test tube stand,

Apparatus: Bunsen burner and stopper.

5 different samples of soap and distilled water

Materials
Required:

The foaming capacity of a soap sample depends upon the

Theory: nature of soap and its concentration. This can be compared
for various samples of soaps by taking the same
concentration of solution and shaking them.

The foam is formed and the time taken for disappearances

of foam in all cases is compared. The lesser the time taken
by a solution
Five conical flasks (100 ml each) are taken and numbered
Procedure: 1 to 5.
In each of these flasks equal amounts (say 5 gm) of the
given samples of soap shavings or granules are taken
and 50 ml of distilled water is added.
Each conical flask is heated few minutes to dissolve all
the soap completely.
In a test-tube stand, five big clean and dry test tubes are
taken and numbered 1 to 5.
One ml of the five soap solution is then poured in the
test tubes of corresponding number.
10 ml. of distilled water is then added to each test tube.
Test tube no 1 is then shaken vigorously 5 times.
The foam would be formed in the empty space above the
container. Stop watch is started immediately and the
time taken for the disappearance of foam is noted.
Similarly the other test tubes are shaken vigorously for
equal number of times (i.e., 5 times) with approximately 5
with the same force and the time taken for the
disappearance of foam in each case is recorded.
The lesser the time taken for the disappearance of foam, the

Foaming Capacity of Soaps | CHEMISTRY PROJECT

 Foaming Capacity of Soaps

lower is the foaming capacity.

Amount of each soap sample taken
Observations
Amount of each soap sample taken

Volume of each soap solution

taken
Volume of distilled water added

S. Soap Sample Time taken

No. (seconds)
1

The soap for which the time taken for the disappearance
Conclusions: of foam is highest has maximum foaming capacity and is
the best quality soap among the soaps tested.

Experiment 2
PARAMETERS INTEXT
Study the effect of the addition of Sodium Carbonate
Aim: (Washing Soda) on the foaming capacity of different soap
solutions.
3 test tubes, test tube stand, Bunsen burner and stop
Apparatus: watch.
6

0.5 g sample of soap, water (distilled & tap both) and

Materials M/10 Na2CO3 solution.

Foaming Capacity of Soaps | CHEMISTRY PROJECT

 Foaming Capacity of Soaps

Required:
When sodium or potassium soaps are put into water
Theory: containing calcium and magnesium ions (Hard water),
results in formation of scum which applies grey
appearance on the cloth. To achieve the same washing or
cleaning action, more soap must be added.
2C17H35COONa + Ca2+ (C17H35COO) 2 Ca + 2Na+
Hard water is water that has high mineral content (mainly
calcium and magnesium ions) (in contrast with soft water).
Hard water minerals primarily consist of calcium (Ca2+),
and magnesium (Mg2+) metal cations, and sometimes
other dissolved compounds such as bicarbonates and
sulphates. Calcium usually enters the water as either
calcium carbonate (CaCO3), in the form of limestone and
chalk, or calcium sulphate (CaSO4), in the form of other
mineral deposits.
When Na2CO3 is added to tap water the calcium (Ca2+),
and magnesium (Mg2+) ions precipitate as their
carbonates .i.e. foaming capacity of soap increases.
Ca2++ Na2CO3 CaCO3 + 2Na+
Mg2+ + Na2CO3 MgCO3 + 2Na+

Dissolve 0.5g of soap and dissolve it in 50 ml of

Procedure: distilled water.
Take three test tubes and add distilled water in
first, tap water in second and third test tube.
Add 5 ml of M/10 sodium carbonate to third test
tube.
To above test tubes add soap solutions separately.
Now shake first test tubes for formation of foam.
Now start the stop watch to calculate time taken
for disappearance of foam.
Similarly, perform the experiment with other soap
solutions. Record the observations in a tabular
form.

Amount of each soap sample taken

Observations
Amount of each soap sample taken
Volume of each soap solution taken

Volume of distilled water added 7

Foaming Capacity of Soaps | CHEMISTRY PROJECT

 Foaming Capacity of Soaps

S. Soap Sample Time taken

No. (seconds)

1
2

Foaming capacity of soap in maximum in distilled water.

Conclusions: The foaming capacity of soap increases on the addition of
Sodium Carbonate.

Bibliography
I would like to declare the array of references hereby and
submit that I took help from following sources

1. Wikipedia.com
The Online Encyclopaedia indexing worlds best articles with genuine
references

2. TCYonline.com
An online video tutorial and educational Centre

3. Meritnation.com
The leading educational site in India

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