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Soaps and Detergents: 1. What Is An Emulsifier?

Soaps and detergents act as surfactants and emulsifiers. Soaps have a hydrophobic tail and hydrophilic ionic head that allows them to bond with dirt/grease and water respectively. Detergents have similar structures that enable cleaning. Anionic detergents are suitable for laundry and dishwashing due to high sudsing. Cationic detergents are used in fabric softeners and mouthwashes due to strong bonding and biocidal properties. Non-ionic detergents are used for cars and synthetic fabrics due to low foam formation. Soap is made via saponification which hydrolyzes fats into glycerol and salts. Detergents overcome hard water issues better

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189 views3 pages

Soaps and Detergents: 1. What Is An Emulsifier?

Soaps and detergents act as surfactants and emulsifiers. Soaps have a hydrophobic tail and hydrophilic ionic head that allows them to bond with dirt/grease and water respectively. Detergents have similar structures that enable cleaning. Anionic detergents are suitable for laundry and dishwashing due to high sudsing. Cationic detergents are used in fabric softeners and mouthwashes due to strong bonding and biocidal properties. Non-ionic detergents are used for cars and synthetic fabrics due to low foam formation. Soap is made via saponification which hydrolyzes fats into glycerol and salts. Detergents overcome hard water issues better

Uploaded by

Rylee
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Soaps and Detergents

Soaps and detergents act as surfactants. Surfactants are substances that act on the surface of another substance,
changing its surface tension. To clean objects soaps and detergents form an emulsion between the soap, water and dirt
or grease, they act as emulsifiers.
1. What is an emulsifier?
An emulsifier is a chemical that allows immiscible liquids to dissolve.
Soap and Detergent Structure
2. Describe and draw the structure of a soap molecule in the space below.

Soaps are fatty acids consisting of a long hydrocarbon chain, or tail with a carboxylate ion (COO-) at the end. The
hydrocarbon tail is hydrophobic and will bond to other hydrophobic substances through dispersion forces. The ionic
head is polar due to the carboxylate ion and froms ion-dipole bonds with water making it hydrophilic.
3. Name and describe the three types of synthetic detergents shown in the table below.

Detergent Name Description of structure


Sodium This has a hydrophilic region at a high
Dodecyl concentration, and each molecule is
Sulfate oriented toward the polar solute while
the hydrophobic regions are grouped
together to form micelles with
https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/technical- hydrophobic cores. The core associates
documents/articles/biofiles/detergent-properties.html with the hydrophobic surfaces of
proteins and results in soluble protein-
detergent complexes.
Cetyltrimethyl- Lamellar structure forming a percolated
ammonium network giving rise to a gel.
chloride

http://www.expertsmind.com/questions/cationic-detergent-
types-of-detergent-30158047.aspx

https://archives.library.illinois.edu/erec/University
%20Archives/
1505050/Organic/Fats/Chapter%2012/sec12-8/12-8.htm

Properties and Uses of detergents


4. High sudsing and excellent cleaning properties, especially on fabrics that absorb water readily such as
cotton, makes anionic detergents suitable for what products?
Laundry detergents, household cleaners and dishwashing detergents.
5. Outline the chemical properties of cationic detergents that enable them to be used in the following
applications.

a) Fabric softeners
They bond very strongly to negatively charged surfaces reducing friction and tangling.
b) Mouthwashes
They are biocidal which means they kill bacteria.
6. Outline the chemical property of non-ionic detergents that make them suitable for washing cars, cleaning
synthetic fabrics and use in automatic dishwashers.
Low lather formation prevents foam build-up in dishwashers and for cars.
Making soap
7. Write the word equation to represent saponification, the hydrolysis reaction used to make soap.
Fat + Sodium Hydroxide  Glycerol and sodium salts of fatty acids.
8. Show the structural formula to represent the equation in 7. (Draw figure 12.14)

9. Write a brief description of the process of making soap.


Soaps are made through the hydrolysis of fats in saponification. When a triglyceride reacts with sodium or
potassium hydroxide, the ester bonds break and an alcohol and three alkyl carboxylates form. This is done by
boiling a fat or oil with sodium hydroxide. The soap curdles and forms a solid that can be scraped off and dried to
form solid soap. The remaining soap ions in solution are precipitated out by adding a concentrated solution of
sodium chloride.

How do soaps and detergents work?

10. Write a step-by-step description of the cleaning action of soaps and detergents in the box below. Use the
diagram as a guide, make sure you include the terms hydrophobic, hydrophilic and micelles.
1. Soap molecule dissolve in water
2. The molecules surround dirt or grease with the hydrophobic tails in the dirt or grease due to the formation of
dispersion forces.
3. The outside hydrophilic ends on the outside bond with water forming ion-dipole bonds with water molecules.
4. The water is agitated and the molecules pull grease from the surface allowing more soap molecules to surround
dirt.
5. A micelle forms and they repel each other so they do not agitate in water.
6. They remain suspended in water until it is drained and the micelles carry the grease away.
https://anjungsainssmkss.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/cleansing-action-of-soap/

11. Hard water is a problem in many regional areas of Australia. What is hard water and what problems does it
cause for cleaning? Explain the advantages detergent has over soap for use in areas where hard water is a
problem.

Hard water contains higher than normal levels of calcium and magnesium ions. The calcium and magnesium bond
with carboxylate ions of soap to form a solid precipitate known as scum. Scum reduces the number of soap ions
available to form micelles reducing the effectiveness of soap. Detergents however react with calcium and magnesium
ions but the resulting molecule does not form scum. The salts that form are soluble in water meaning the cleaning
ability was not impaired. Thus as the formation of salts does not impair the cleaning ability, detergents are
advantageous over soaps for this reason.

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