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Alkali metal and alkaline earth soaps are white solids. [1] The most commonly encountered are traditional household soaps, which are the fatty acid salts of sodium (hard soap) and potassium (soft soap). Lithium soap or greases, such as lithium stearate, are insoluble in water and find use in lubricating grease.
In this context, soap is used in its formal sense, a metal salt of a fatty acid: in this case stearic acid. It is a white solid that repels water. It is a white solid that repels water. It is insoluble in polar solvents such as alcohol and ether but soluble in aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g., benzene ) and chlorinated hydrocarbons when heated.
Using soap helps dissolve many water-insoluble substances, like fats and oils, making them washable with water. In most cases, hard soaps or products based on them are used for handwashing because they exhibit an alkaline ( pH value above 7) nature and can irritate the skin when in contact with mucous membranes.
Unlike soaps containing sodium and potassium, calcium stearate is insoluble in water and does not lather well. [2] Commercially it is sold as a 50% dispersion in water or as a spray dried powder. As a food additive it is known by the generic E number E470.
A handmade soap bar Two equivalent images of the chemical structure of sodium stearate, a typical ingredient found in bar soaps Emulsifying action of soap on oil. Soap is a salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. [1]
Saponification is a process of cleaving esters into carboxylate salts and alcohols by the action of aqueous alkali.Typically aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions are used. [1] [2] It is an important type of alkaline hydrolysis.
Sodium stearate is produced as a major component of soap upon saponification of oils and fats. The percentage of the sodium stearate depends on the ingredient fats. Tallow is especially high in stearic acid content (as the triglyceride), whereas most fats only contain a few percent. The idealized equation for the formation of sodium stearate ...
Detergents. A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with cleansing properties when in dilute solutions. [1] There are a large variety of detergents, a common family being the alkylbenzene sulfonates, which are soap-like compounds that are more soluble in hard water, because the polar sulfonate (of detergents) is less likely than the polar carboxylate (of soap) to bind to ...