CHEMISTRY

INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT WORK
ON
Foaming Capacity of Soaps

School Name: - S.D.S.M SCHOOL FOR EXCELLENCE

Student Name: - KUMARI SHUBHANGINI

Class :- 12

Board Roll No.:- 22672154

Admission no. : - 9440 Session : - 2021-2022

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ACKNOWLEDGEME
NT

I would like to thank my chemistry teacher who gave me a

golden opportunity to work on this project. I’d also like to
express my gratitude to my school principal wholeheartedly.

I will treasure the knowledge imparted to me by Tr. RAGINI, my

grateful thanks to her for the able teaching and guidance. I
thank Tr. MEETA, the Lab assistant for her cooperation. I also
thank my parents and my friends for their constant support and
cooperation.

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AIM OF THE PROJECT/
OBJECTIVES

This project aims at finding the foaming capacity of

various soaps and the action of Ca and Mg salts on
their foaming capacity.

Soaps and detergents remove dirt and grease from skin and
clothes. But all soaps are not equally effective in their cleaning
action. Soaps are the Na and K salts of higher fatty acids such
as Palmitic acid, Stearic acid and Oleic acid.
The cleansing action of soaps depends on the solubility of the
long alkyl chain in grease and that of the -COONa or the -
COOK part in water.
Whenever soap is applied on a dirty wet cloth, the non- polar
alkyl group dissolves in grease while the polar -COONa part
dissolves in water. In this manner, an emulsion is formed
between grease and water which appears as foam.
The washing ability of soap depends on foaming capacity, as
well as the water used in cleaning. The salts of Ca and Mg
disrupt the formation of micelle formation. The presence of
such salts makes the water hard and the water is called hard
water. These salts thus make the soap inefficient in its cleaning
action.

Sodium Carbonate when added to hard water reacts with Ca

and Mg and precipitates them out. Therefore sodium carbonate
is used in the treatment of hard water.

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. CONTENTS

s.no. TOPIC

1. Aim of the project/objective

Introduction
2.
Method/Procedures
3.
Material/Resources required
4.
Observation , Result
5.
Conclusion
6.
7. Bibliography

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 INTRODUCTION
Soap is an anionic surfactant used in conjunction with water for
washing and cleaning, which historically comes either in solid
bars or in the form of a viscous liquid. Soap consists of sodium
or potassium salts of fatty acids and is obtained by reacting
common oils or fats with a strong alkaline in a process known
as saponification. The fats are hydrolyzed by the base, yielding
alkali salts of fatty acids (crude soap) and glycerol.

The general formula of soap is

Fatty end water soluble end
CH3-(CH2) n – COONa

Soaps are useful for cleaning because soap molecules have

both a hydrophilic end, which dissolves in water, as well as a
hydrophobic end, which is able to dissolve non polar grease
molecules. Applied to a soiled surface, soapy water effectively
holds particles in colloidal suspension so it can be rinsed off
with clean water. The hydrophobic portion (made up of a long
hydrocarbon chain) dissolves dirt and oils, while the ionic end
dissolves in water. The resultant forms a round structure called
micelle. Therefore, it allows water to remove normally-insoluble
matter by emulsification.

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 METHODS/PROCEDURES

Various soap samples are taken separately and their foaming

capacity is observed. The soap with the maximum foaming
capacity is thus, said to be having the best cleaning capacity.
The test requires to be done with distilled water as well as with
tap water. The test of soap on distilled water gives the actual
strength of the soaps cleaning capacity. The second test with
tap water tests the effect of Ca2+ and Mg2+ salts on their
foaming capacities.

Objective: To compare the foaming capacity of various soaps

Theory: The foaming capacity of soap depends upon the

nature of the soap and its concentration. This may be
compared by shaking equal volumes of solutions of different
samples having the same concentration with same force for the
same amount of time. The solutions are then allowed to stand
when the foam produced during shaking disappears gradually.
The time taken for the foam to disappear in each sample is
determined. The longer the time taken for the disappearance of
the foam for the given sample of soap, greater is its foaming
capacity or cleansing action.

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MATERIAL/ RESOURCES
REQUIRED
1. Five different soap samples
2. Tap water
3. Stop watch
4. Five glasses
5. Weighting machine

PROCEDURES:
1. Taken five glasses and numbered them 1, 2,3,4,5.
2. Put 16ml of water in each glass and added 8 Gms of
soap.
3. Warmed the contents to get a solution.
4. . Taken five glasses; added 1ml of soap solution to
3ml of water.
5. Repeated the process for each soap solution in
different glasses.
6. Closed the mouth of the glass and shake vigorously
for a minute. Done the same for all glasses and with
equal force.
7. Started the timer immediately and noticed the rate of
disappearance of 2mm of froth.

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Observations:
The following outcomes were noticed at the end of the
experiment:

Test Soap samples Volume of Volume Time taken to

tube water of soap disappear
no. added solution
1. SANTOOR 16ML 8ML 15’32”
2. PEARS 16ML 8ML 3’16”

3. LIFEBOUY 16ML 8ML 9’45”

4. DOVE 16ML 8ML 11’42”
5. LUX 16ML 8ML 5’28”

Result:
The cleansing capacity of the soaps taken is in the
order:

Santoor> Dove> Lifebuoy> Lux> Pears

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From this experiment, we can infer that

Santoor has the highest foaming capacity, in other words,

highest cleaning capacity.
Pears, on the other hand is found to have taken the least
amount of time for the disappearance of foam produced and
thus is said to be having the least foaming capacity and
cleansing capacity.

Test for hardness in water

Test for Ca2+ and Mg2+ salts in the water supplied
Test for Ca2+ in water
H2O +NH4Cl + NH4OH + (NH4)2CO3
No precipitate

Test for Mg2+ in water

H2O +NH4Cl + NH4OH + (NH4)3PO4
No precipitate

The tests show negative results for the presence of the salts
causing hardness in water. The water used does not contain
salts of Ca2+ and Mg2+. The tap water provided is soft and
thus, the experimental results and values hold good for distilled
water and tap water.

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 CONCLUSION

Here, I have come to the end of the project on the

topic ‘FOAMING CAPACITY OF SOAPS’. I tried
my best to include all the necessary points that are
required related to the given topic. Some of the
information I wrote in the project were taken from
the internet this project contains information. I do
hope that my project will be interesting and may be
even knowledgeable.”

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Parents
2. Friends
3. Lab Manual class12
4. www.iCBSE.com

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