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1800-102-2727You must have heard your teacher say, "Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds." Some of you may be wondering how these foams in soap form when we rub our hands together. Soaps have now become an indispensable part of our daily lives. The germs on our hands are eradicated when we wash them with soap. This helps us stay healthy by keeping hazardous bacteria out of our bodies.
Have you ever witnessed your mother washing your soiled clothes?
She generally adds additional supplements to the water when washing the filthy garments, and then the froth/lather forms.
Have you ever mopped your floor before? Cleaning your floors is just as important as cleaning your clothes. It is a daily task that must be completed as part of our daily schedule. A good detergent is necessary for good health. When you touch various surfaces, germs and other harmful elements come into contact with your clothing. Detergent is used to remove the impurities.
There are a variety of uses and functions which we must know about soaps and detergents.
Let’s study this in detail.
Table of content:
Let us study this saponification reaction in brief-
By reacting dodecyl alcohol (dodecanol) with sulfuric acid, a sodium alkyl sulphate known as sodium dodecylsulfate will be formed.
A reaction with sodium hydroxide converts the resultant dodecylsulfate to the sodium salt.
Soaps are made almost entirely by heating fats or oils with soluble hydroxide. To generate variances, different basic materials are employed.
Synthetic detergents are generally divided into three groups:
Anionic detergents, cationic detergents, and non-ionic detergents are the three types of detergents.
There are non-ionic liquid dishwashing detergents on the market. This sort of detergent works in a similar way as soaps in terms of cleaning. Grease and oil are also removed through micelle formation.
Think of the situation with soap solutions, A higher fatty acid that may be written as RCOO-Na+ is what makes up soap. One frequent component in bar soaps is sodium stearate, which is written as CH3(CH2)16COO-Na+. When dissolved in water, it splits into RCOO- and Na+ ions. The RCOO- ions, on the other hand, are composed of two components: a hydrophilic polar group RCOO- (also known as a polar-ionic "head") and a lengthy hydrophobic (water-repelling) hydrocarbon chain R. (water-loving).
A central core that resembles a hydrophobic hydrocarbon makes up a micelle. With the hydrophobic portion of the stearate ions in the oil droplet and the hydrophilic portion of the stearate ions spreading out of the grease droplet like bristles, soap molecules form micelles surrounding the oil droplet to provide cleaning action. Because the polar groups may interact with water, the oil droplet surrounded by stearate ions is now sucked in water and released from the filthy surface. The globules' negatively charged surface prevents them from sticking together and forming aggregates.
Detergents are surface-active agents or surfactants with a hydrophobic "tail" and a hydrophilic "head," and they operate according to a similar mechanism. To keep their tails together and out of the solution phase, surfactant molecules in aqueous solutions often take the form of "micelle" structures. The majority of dirt's oily molecules can enter the centre of these micelles, thereby dispersing them in water and allowing them to be washed away. This process works much more quickly with some mechanical assistance, which is why scrubbing, mixing, and other operations are commonly required.
Soap |
Detergent |
A "-COONa" group is joined to a fatty acid with a lengthy alkyl chain. |
A “-SO3Na” group is coupled to a long alkyl chain. |
They are inefficient in saline and hard water. |
They continue to work well in hard and salty water. |
Soaps are biodegradable in nature |
The hydrocarbon chain in non-biodegradable detergents is branching. |
They have a predisposition for developing scum in hard water environments. |
These compounds have no effect on the formation of scum |
They are produced using natural resources like vegetable oils and animal fats. |
Detergents made from synthetic compounds are utilised. |
Soap is a product that benefits the environment because it degrades naturally. |
A thick foam that is produced by these compounds can harm aquatic life. |
Examples of soaps include sodium palmitate and sodium stearate. |
Detergents like sodium lauryl sulphate and deoxycholic acid are two examples. |
Q1.Critical micelle concentration is_____________________.
A. the concentration below which micelle formation takes place.
B. the concentration above which micelle formation takes place.
C. the concentration at which micelle formation takes place.
D. the concentration at which the surface became unsaturated.
Answer: B
Solution: Critical micelle concentration is defined as the concentration above which micelle formation takes place. The surface becomes saturated at the CMC point, and adding more surfactant molecules has no effect on the surface tension.
Q2. Soft soaps are restricted to hot processes because of their _____________.
A. Low alkaline nature
B. High alkaline nature
C. High solubility in oil
D. High solubility in water
Answer: D
Solution: Because of their higher water solubility, soft soaps are restricted to hot process constraints. Generally, soaps made from potassium hydroxide are made from cold procedures. The soft soaps which we generally use are not soluble in hard water.
Q3. ‘Builder’ in detergent works _______.
A. to improve surfactant washing efficiency
B. as an ion exchanger for calcium ions
C. as detergent additives that do not have the potential to improve the wash
D. to keep dirt from re-settling on the garments
Answer: A
Solution: Builder (former) works to improve the surfactant's washing efficiency in order to disable the minerals that cause water hardness. This material is added to the wash water to remove calcium and magnesium ions (hardness).
Q4. _____________is a steroid-based zwitter ionic detergent.
A. Sodium dodecyl sulfate
B. CHAPS [(3-((3-cholamidopropyl) dimethylammonio)-1-propanesulfonate) ]
C. cetyltrimethylammonium bromide
D. sulfobetaine
Answer: B
Solution: Zwitter ionic detergents have both ionic and nonionic properties.CHAPS is an example of a steroid-based zwitter ionic detergent. Below is the structure of CHAPS.
Q1. Who invented the versatile substance “soap”?
Solution: In 2800 B.C., the Babylonians were the first to invent soap. They discovered that combining fats, specifically animal fats, with wood ash generated a cleaner product. The first soap was used to wash textile industry wool.
Q2. Is soap considered a detergent?
Solution: The components are the main distinction between soap and detergent. Biodegradable components such as oils and fats are used to make soaps. Surfactants, optical brighteners, and fragrances are among the synthetic compounds used in detergents.
Q3. Is bleach considered a detergent?
Solution: Bleach and detergents are two different things. Your clothes will be clean if you use bleach and detergent together. Although detergent can be used alone, bleach improves cleaning performance and is generally used for removing tough stains over white clothes.
Q4. What do you mean by laundry detergent made from plants?
Solution: Because they use natural components produced from plants, plant-based detergents are referred to as green or eco detergents and thus considered laundry detergents made from plants.