6.

1 ABSTRACT
The experiment is conducted to prepare soap and compare its properties with a
synthetic detergent. Basically in this experiment, we need to prepare a soap in the first
week before continuing to compare its properties with the synthetic detergent on the
next week. The difference that we need to observe is in the aspect of oil emulsified, the
forming of precipitation and cleaning abilities between the soap and the synthetic
detergent. The experiment is divided into 3 parts which is the soap preparation,
comparison of soap and detergent properties and lastly the comparison of cleaning
abilities of soap and detergent. From the result obtained from the experiment, it
showed that in the soft water, both soap and synthetic detergent are capable in
emulsifying oils. But in hard water, soap is less effective to emulsify oils as soap will
form precipitate while synthetic detergent is more effective in emulsifying oils as no
precipitate is formed. With the result obtained, it can be concluded that the experiment
is successful.















6.2 INTRODUCTION
Soap is a generic term for the sodium or potassium salts of long-chain organic acids
(fatty acid) made from naturally occurring esters in animal fats and vegetable oils used
frequently in our daily life. We use them to bath, washing hand and also to clean our
clothes and cars for instance.
All organic acids contain the RCO
2
H functional group, where R is shorthand notation for
methyl CH
3
-, ethyl CH
3
CH
2
-, propyl CH
3
CH
2
CH
2
- or more complex hydrocarbon chains
called alkyl groups. Chemists use the R shorthand notation because these groups can be
very large and the hydrocarbon chain has little effect on the compound's chemical
reactivity. All esters contain the RCO
2
R 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), palmitic (palm oil), and stearic
(animal fat) acids are just a few examples of soaps.
CH
3
(CH
2
)
10
COONa sodium laurate
CH
3
(CH
2
)
16
COONa sodium stearate

The hydrocarbon chain in soaps may contain saturated (no double bonds) or unsaturated
(contains double bonds) chains. Sodium salts are usually solid therefore most bars of soap are
of sodium salts. Potassium salts are the basis of liquid soaps, shaving creams and greases. Fats
and vegetable oils are triglycerides. Triglycerides are esters derived from three fatty acids. A
triglyceride made from three lauric acid molecules is shown in Figure 6-1.


Figure 6-1: A Triglyceride molecule made from lauric acid and glycerol
Saponification is the basic hydrolysis of an ester producing a carboxylic acid salt and an
alcohol (Eq 6-1). 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 (Eq 6.1). The C-OR' bond breaks generating
a carboxylic acid (RCO
2
H) and an alcohol (R'OH). In the presence of NaOH carboxylic
acids are converted to their sodium salts (RCO
2
-
Na
+
).
When a triglyceride is saponified, three fatty acid salts (soaps) and glycerol are produced
as shown in Equation 6-2. The R groups in the triglyceride may or may not have the
same chain length (same number of carbons). Thus, different types of soaps may be
produced from the saponification of a particular triglyceride.

(Equation 6-1)

(Equation 6-2)
















6.3 AIMS
To prepare soap and compare its properties to that of a synthetics detergent.

6.4 THEORY
Soap is the salt of weak acid. Consequently, hydrolysis occurs to some extent when soap
dissolves in water. Soap solution tend to be slightly basic due to partial hydrolysis of the
acid.

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 a grease or
oil along with other organic species. In general, organic compounds are nonpolar while
water is a polar species. These two substances will not dissolve in each other because of
their dissimilar characteristics. Soaps cross the boundary between polar and nonpolar
because they contain a polar hydrophobic (water-hating) end and a polar hydrophilic
(water loving) end.



Soaps have both polar and nonpolar molecular regions, hence they are soluble in both
polar and nonpolar species. The hydrophobic (nonpolar) portion of soap is soluble in
non polar compounds like grease and oils and the hydrophilic (polar) end dissolves in
water. Soap molecules surround grease and oils and break them up into microscopic
droplets, which can remain suspended in water. These suspended microscopic droplets
are called micelles. Micelles contain very small amounts of oil or grease in their center.
Thus oil or grease dissolved in water forms an emulsion, a form of suspension in water.
Acidic and "hard" water reduce the cleansing action of soap. Soap is the salt of a weak
acid and in the presence of a stronger acid, the sodium salt is converted to an insoluble
organic acid.

Hard water" contains dissolved Ca
2+
, Mg
2+
and Fe
3+
ions from the minerals that the
water passes over. Normally, soaps made from sodium and potassium fatty acid salts
are soluble in water. However, in the presence of these metal ions, the Na
+
and K
+

convert to insoluble Ca
2+
, Mg
2+
and Fe
3+
salts.

In either acidic or "hard" water, the soluble soaps form insoluble salts which leave
scummy rings. The cleansing ability of soap is reduced because soap molecules are
removed from solution. There are several techniques used to circumvent the problems
generated by hard water. Thus Syndets were developed to overcome the soap hard
water problem. Syndets differ from soaps in that the nonpolar fatty acids groups are
replaced with alkyl or aryl sulfonic acids (ROSO
3
H). The alkyl or aryl sulfonic acids have
long hydrophobic carbon chains and a hydrophilic sulfonate end. The difference in polar
groups is one of the key distinctions between a soap and a synthetic detergent. Syndets
form micelles and cleanse in the same manner as soaps. Two examples of synthetic
detergents are shown in figure below.

Because sulfonic acids are stronger than carboxylic acids, hence Syndets do not
precipitate in acidic solutions. Furthermore, alkyl and aryl sulfonates do not form
insoluble salts in the presence of typical hard water ions. Thus, synthetic detergents
remain soluble in both acidic and "hard" water.



6.5 APPARATUS AND MATERIAL
6.5.1 APPARATUS
1. Magnetic stirrer
2. Erlenmeyer flask
3. Vacuum filtration apparatus
4. Glass rod
5. Buncher funnel
6. Mass electronic balance
7. pH meter
8. Test tubes with racks
9. Dropper
10. Beakers
11. Cloth test strips
12. Measuring cylinder
13. Retort stand and clamp
14. Petric dish
15. Electronic heater


Mass electronic balance pH meter magnetic stirrer electronic heater


Vacuum filtration apparatus petric dish cloth test strips

6.5.2 MATERIALS
1. 12.5 mL vegetable oil
2. 10 mL ethanol
3. 12.5 mL of 6M Sodium Hydroxide
4. Boiling water bath
5. Ice bath
6. Filter paper
7. 150 mL Saturated Sodium Chloride (NaCl)
8. 10 mL ice-cold water
9. Distilled water
10. 2g synthetic detergent ( Dynamo )
11. pH paper
12. Mineral oil
13. 2 mL of 1% Ca

14. 2 mL of 1% Mg

15. 2 mL of 1% Fe

16. 1M HCl
17. Tomato source

Tomato sos ice bath synthetic detergent ( Dynamo )

1% Fe

Mineral oil 1M HCl
6.6 METHADOLOGY
6.6.1 SOAP PREPARATION
1. 12.5 ml of vegetable is placed in a 250 ml Erlenmeyer flask. 10mL of ethanol and
12.5mL of 6M 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 of flask is heated in a 600mL 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 until the foaming
subsides, then the heating is continued. The mixture is heated for 20-30 minutes
or until the alcohol odour 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. The
vacuum filtration 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 0.001g and the mass is recorded.
The filter paper is placed inside the Buchner funnel. The filter 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 then
the mass is then recorded.



6.6.2 COMPARISON OF SOAP AND DETERGENT PROPERTIES (PRECIPITATION AND
EMULSIFYING )
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 meter.
3. Three test tubes are labeled as test 1, 2 and 3. 4 drops of minerals oil are added
to each test tube. 5 mL of distilled water is added to test tube 1.5 mL of stock
solution is added to test 2 and 5 mL of synthetic detergent is added to test tube
3.
4. Each solution is mixed by shaking and let stand for three to five minutes. The
solution, if any that 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. 2mL of stock solution is
placed in each of the three test tubes. 2mL 1% CaCl2 solution is added to test 1.
2mL of 1% MgCl2 solution is added to test tube 2 while 2mL of 1% 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 oils 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 to
five minutes. The solutions, if any, that emulsifies the oil by forming a single
layer is noted.
8. Step 6-7 is repeated using 2 mL of stock detergent solution. The solutions that
precipitated are observed.
9. The solution, if any, that emulsifies the oil by forming a single layer is noted.
10. The mixtures are poured into the Waste Container. The test tube 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. 1M HCl is added one drop at a time to
both solutions until the pH in each 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.
6.6.3 COMPARISON OF CLEANING ABILITIES OF SOAP AND DETERGENT
1. The three beakers are cleaned, dried and labeled. Then 20 mL of stock soap
solution that from step 1 is placed in the first beaker. After that, 20 mL of stock
detergent solution from step 2 is placed in the second beaker. 20 mL of tap
water is added in a third beaker.
2. Three cloth test strips that have been soaked in tomato sos 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.
















6.7 RESULT

6.7.1 SOAP PREPARATION

Mass of Filter paper (g)


0.5790

Mass of filter paper + soap (g)


27.7127

Mass of soap recovered (g)


27.1337

6.7.2 COMPARISON OF SOAP AND DETERGENT PROPERTIES

Brand name of synthetic
detergent


Dynamo

pH of soap solution


11.49

pH of synthetic detergent
solution


8.13


SYSTEM


EMULSIFICATION OCCURRED

Distilled water


No

Soap


Yes

Detergent


Yes














System

Precipitate


Oil emulsified

Soap


Synthetic detergent

Soap

Synthetic
detergent

CaCl
2


Yes


No

No

No

MgCl
2


No


No

No

Yes

FeCl
3


Yes

No

No

Yes

Sample

Soap

Synthetic detergent

Drops of 1M HCl to
reach pH 3

8 drops

2 drops

Observations

The solution become
milky while droping the
HCl solution.

The solution is clear and not form any
precipitate

Add the mineral oil for both samples

Observations

Form white precipitate

Not change


SYSTEM


CLEANING ABILITIES

Beaker 1 Soap


Cleanest

Beaker 2 Detergent


Clean

Beaker 3 Liquid Dynamo


Cleaner




6.8 DISCUSSION
Firstly in this experiment, we need to determine the pH value of soap and the synthetic
detergent. For the soap that had prepared earlier, the pH is 11.49 while for the synthetic
detergent, the pH is 8.13. It shows that the soap is more alkali than the detergent.
Next, we need to compare the emulsification of distilled water, soap and the synthetic
detergent. From the result, emulsification only occurred in soap and synthetic detergent
but for distilled water, it does not occur. Emulsification can be determined if the
solution that form is in a single layer. Soap and synthetic detergent have the ability to
emulsify oil because of their molecular structure. When a soap or synthetic detergent is
added to water that contains oil, soap or synthetic detergent molecules surround the oil
droplets. The oil is dissolved in the alkyl groups of the soap molecules while the ionic
end allows the micelle to dissolve in water. As a result, the oil droplets are dispersed
throughout the water (this is referred to as emulsification) and can be rinsed away. As
the distilled water does not have that kind of molecular structure thus it explains why
they cannot emulsify oils.
When dissolving the soap in the hard solution such as Ca

solution, Mg

solution
and Fe

solution, precipitate is formed in Ca

and Fe

solution but not formed in

the Mg

solution. We supposedly had precipitate in all solutions but due to some

error that occurred during the experiment, we do not manage to get the accurate result.
The precipitate is supposedly formed because the metal ions from the hard solution
will cause the soap to form an insoluble salt. Since soap forms a precipitate with the
ions, it means that many of the soap molecules are no longer present in the solution.
That explained why the water does not mix with the soap thus forming a precipitate. It
does show why the soap is less effective in hard water.
But for the synthetic detergent test with the hard solution, there is no precipitate
formed in the all three solutions. It is because detergent contains one or more
surfactants. Surfactants is defined as surface active agents which functioned to modify
the surface of the liquid it is dissolved in, reducing the surface tension and allowing oils
and water to mix. But some error did occurred during the experiment causing us to not
getting a precise result which is we can see a single layer is formed in the solution of
synthetic detergent + Ca

solution. We supposedly get no single layer in all the

solutions because synthetic detergent is an effective agent to emulsify oils than soap in
the hard water.
For the next test, we need to compare the properties of soap and synthetic detergent in
the acidic solution by adding 1M HCl. For the soap stock solution, it required 8 drops of
HCl to decrease the pH from 11.49 to 3 with the milky white precipitate formed. While
for the synthetic detergent, it only required 2 drops of HCl to reduce the pH to 3 from
8.13 with no precipitate formed. For the test with the HCl, we can conclude that the
soap is more alkali than synthetic detergents therefore it required more drops of acid to
achieve pH 3 than the synthetic detergents.
For the last test in the experiment, we need to compare the cleaning abilities of soap
and synthetic detergent on the cloth strip. Firstly, the cloth strip is soaked in tomato
souce then it is put in the beaker containing soap and detergent solution and being
stirred for 5 minutes. From the observation obtained from the experiment, it showed
that the cloth strip that is soaked in the soap is the cleanest followed by the cloth strip
that being soaked in diluted detergent and lastly in Dynamo. Thus, the relative
cleanliness can be concluded as Dynamo < diluted detergent < soap. As the soap is more
alkali than synthetic detergent, it is more effective to clean cloth strip in tomato sos
than the synthetic detergents.
Based on the theory, detergent is more effective cleaning agent than the soap as it is
effective in both hard and soft water. Synthetic detergents have undeniably replaced
soap for many cleaning jobs around the home. Thus, the development of synthetic
detergent by chemist actually was a great advantage for people with relatively hard tap
water in their homes.The synthetic detergent have the advantages compare to the soap,
but there is a significant issue regarding the use of synthetic detergent that is the
biodegradability of some of its components.










6.9 CONCLUSION
The pH value for soap is higher than the synthetic detergent which shows that the soap
is more basic. Distilled water does not emulsify oil while soap and synthetic detergents
did. Soap and synthetic detergent are both soluble in water due to the presence of
hydrophilic polar end of the atomic structure. However in the hard water, soap does not
emulsify oil thus forming a precipitate while the synthetic detergents emulsify oil in hard
water without forming any precipitate. The result might be slightly different from the
theory due to some error that occurred in the experiment. The cleaning abilities can be
concluded as detergent < liquid Dynamo < soap.

6.10 RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Wear the gloves to avoid error while conducting the experiment because the tip of our
fingers is acidic.
2. Watch your reaction mixture at all times as it is heating. Do not let it boil over and do
not let the volume of the heated solution decrease too much.
3. Rinsed the pH electrode with distilled water before inserting it into the solution and
read the pH reading to neutralize it thus obtaining accurate pH reading.
4. Alert with any visual reading of the solution like colour changes or precipitation formed
and record it if any occurs.
5. To avoid parallax error, place a piece of paper at the same level of solution at the back
of the measuring cylinder.
6. Repeat the experiment twice to get more accurate result.








6.11 REFERENCES
Engineering Chemistry Lab (CHE 485)
David A. Katz (2000), The Science of Soaps and Detergent, Retrieved on 4
December 2013, from
http://www.chymist.com/Soap%20and%20detergent.pdf
Anne Marie Helmenstine, How Soap Cleans, Retrieved on 5 December 2013,
from http://chemistry.about.com/od/cleanerchemistry/a/how-soap-cleans.htm
Soaps vs detergent, Retrieved on 5 December 2013, from
http://chemmovies.unl.edu/chemistry/labs/LABS12c.html
Soaps and Detergent, Retrieved on 6 December 2013, from
http://dwb4.unl.edu/Chem/CHEM869A/CHEM869AInfoFiles/pubCHEM869A-
Info077.html


6.12 APPENDIX