Chapter 5

CHEMICAL FOR CONSUMER

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 SOAP

Soap - sodium or potassium salts formed when a fatty acid that contain 12 to 18
carbon atoms per molecule is neutralized by an alkali

- cleansing agent made from animals fats or vegetable oils by

saponification

The history of soap manufacturing

1. Soaps have been used more than 3000 years. The Babylonians were making
soap around 2800 B.C

2. Ways to make soaps in ancient times:

Soaps were made from ashes of plants which contain sodium

carbonate and potassium carbonate.

The ashes were boiled with lime- calcium oxide to produce caustic
potash- potassium hydroxide.

Caustic potash is then boiled with animal fats to produce soap.

- Ash + Lime Caustic potash

(K2CO3) (CaO) (KOH)

- Caustic potash + animals fats soap

3. The French chemist Michel Chevreul ( 1786- 1889 ) discovered that animal
fats are composed of fatty acids and glycerol. This discovery caused to
development of the soaps and candles industry.

4. The Belgian chemist Ernest Solvay ( 1838- 1922 ) discovered the process
to make soda- sodium carbonate from common salts- sodium chloride and
calcium carbonate. The process is called Solvay process which produces
sodium carbonate which is used for making glass, soaps and detergents.

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The structure of palmitate ion in soap

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