BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN, THIRUVANTHAPURAM

INVESTIGATORY PROJECT WORK IN CHEMISTRY

SYNTHETIC DETERGENT

GOVARD A ANAND
ROLL NO. 17
CLASS Xll-B
ACKNOWLEDGEMET

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my teacher,

MRS JYOTISHA, our lab assistant MRS SREELATHA as well as
our principal DR. SUNIL CHACKO who gave me the golden
opportunity to do this project on the topic ‘SYNTHETIC
DETERGENTS’, which helped me in doing a lot of research and
acquire knowledge about many new things.

I would also like to thank my parents and friends who

helped me in finalizing this project within the limited
time frame.
PREFACE

I humbly present this project as a result of my lessons on

chemistry, which I have duly studied as per the CBSE
textbook. This work is the brainchild collaboration of my
abilities, along with much acknowledged guidance from
our esteemed teaching faculty, reference books and the
greatest source of knowledge and information available
in the internet.
Table of contents

Introduction.................................................................................... 6

Soaps................................................................................................. 7

Chemical classification of detergents…………………………….8

Cleaning action of detergents...................................................10

Michelle formation...............................................................10

Mechanism of cleaning.........................................................12

Experiment: comparative cleaning capacity of a sample

of detergent in soft and hard water......................................14

Bibliography................................................................................. 20
Introduction
Synthetic detergents are cleaning chemical agents that have all of the qualities
of soap but include no soap.

Hence this is a non-soap cleanser that exerts its impact by reducing the surface
tension of an aqueous cleaning mixture.

They produce foam even in hard water, these can be used in both soft and hard
water.

Some detergents produce foam even in ice-cold water.

These are mainly classified into three categories:

⋅ Anionic detergents, e.g., sodium dodecylbenzene sulphonate
⋅ Cationic detergents, e.g., cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide
⋅ Non-ionic detergents, e.g., polyethylene glycol stearate

During the First world war, there was a shortage of oils and fats needed
to make soap. In order find alternatives for soap, synthetic detergents
were made in Germany by chemists using raw material derived from
coal tar. These early products, however, did not provide sufficient
detergency.
Synthetic detergents

A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with cleansing

properties when in dilute solutions. 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 calcium and other ions found in
hard water.
Detergents are a group of compounds with an amphiphilic structure,
where each molecule has a hydrophilic (polar) head and a long
hydrophobic (non-polar) tail. The hydrophobic portion of these molecules
may be straight- or branched chain hydrocarbons, or it may have
a steroid structure. The hydrophilic portion is more varied, they may be
ionic or non-ionic, and can range from a simple or a relatively elaborate
structure. Detergents are surfactants since they can decrease the
surface tension of water. Their dual nature facilitates the mixture of
hydrophobic compounds (like oil and grease) with water. Because air is
not hydrophilic, detergents are also foaming agents to varying degrees.
Chemical classifications of detergents
Detergents are classified into four broad groupings, depending on the
electrical charge of the surfactants.

Anionic detergents

Typical anionic detergents are alkylbenzene sulfonates.

The alkylbenzene portion of these anions is lipophilic and the sulfonate
is hydrophilic. Two varieties have been popularized, those with
branched alkyl groups and those with linear alkyl groups. The former
were largely phased out in economically advanced societies because
they are poorly biodegradable.

Anionic detergents is the most common form of detergents, and an

estimated 6 billion kilograms of anionic detergents are produced
annually for the domestic markets.

Bile acids, such as deoxycholic acid (DOC), are anionic detergents

produced by the liver to aid in digestion and absorption of fats and oils.

Three kinds of anionic detergents: a branched sodium

dodecylbenzenesulfonate, linear sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, and
a soap.
Cationic detergents

Cationic detergents are similar to anionic ones, but quaternary

ammonium replaces the hydrophilic anionic sulfonate group. The
ammonium sulfate center is positively charged. Cationic surfactants
generally have poor detergency.

Non-ionic detergents

Non-ionic detergents are characterized by their uncharged, hydrophilic

headgroups. Typical non-ionic detergents are based
on polyoxyethylene or a glycoside. Common examples of the former
include Tween, Triton, and the Brij series. These materials are also
known as ethoxylates or PEGylates and their metabolites, nonylphenol.
Glycosides have a sugar as their uncharged hydrophilic headgroup.
Examples include octyl thioglucoside and maltosides. HEGA and MEGA
series detergents are similar, possessing a sugar alcohol as headgroup.

Amphoteric detergent
Amphoteric or zwitterionic detergents have zwitterions within a particular
pH range, and possess a net zero charge arising from the presence of
equal numbers of +1 and −1 charged chemical groups.
Cleansing Action of Detergents

Most of the dirt is oily in nature and oil does not dissolve in water. The
molecule of detergent constitutes sodium or potassium salts of long-
chain carboxylic acids. In the case of detergent, the carbon chain
dissolves in oil and the ionic end dissolves in water. Thus, the soap
molecules form structures called micelles. In micelles, one end is
towards the oil droplet and the other end which is the ionic faces outside.
Therefore, it forms an emulsion in water and helps in dissolving the dirt
when we wash our clothes.

detergent is a kind of molecule in which both the ends have different

properties.

 Hydrophilic end
 Hydrophobic end
The first one is the hydrophilic end which dissolves water and is
attracted to it whereas the second one is the hydrophobic end that is
dissolved in hydrocarbons and is water repulsive in nature. If on the
surface of the water, detergent is present then the hydrophobic tail which
is not soluble in water will align along the water surface.

Micelles
the detergent molecule is uniquely oriented which helps to keep the
hydrocarbon part outside the water. When the clusters of molecules are
formed then hydrophobic tail comes at the interior of the cluster and the
ionic end comes at the surface of the cluster and this formation is called
a micelle. When the detergent is in the form of micelles then it has the
ability to clean the oily dirt which gets accumulated at the centre. These
micelles remain as colloidal solutions. Therefore, the dirt from the cloth is
easily washed away. The detergent solution appears cloudy as it forms a
colloidal solution which scatters light.

Mechanism of cleaning
The dirt in the cloth is due to presence of dust particle in fat or
grease, which sticks to the cloth.. The dirt present on clothes is organic
in nature and insoluble in water. Therefore, it cannot be removed by only
washing with water. When detergent is dissolved in water, its
hydrophobic ends attach themselves to the dirt and remove it from the
cloth. Then the molecules of detergent arrange themselves in micelle
formation and trap the dirt at the centre of the cluster. These micelles
remain suspended in the water. The dust particles are then easily rinsed
away by water.

Cleansing action of detergent decreases in hard water. Hard water

contains Calcium and magnesium ions which react with
sodium carbonate to produce insoluble carbonates of higher fatty
acids.

2C17H35COONa +Ca2+ → (C17H35COO) 2 Ca +2Na+

(Water soluble) (ppt.)

2C17H35COONa + Mg2+ → (C17H35COO) 2 Mg +2Na+

This hardness can be removed by addition of Sodium Carbonate.

Ca2++ Na2CO3 → CaCO3 +

2Na+ Mg2++ Na2CO3 →

MgCO3 + 2Na+
Experiment: comparative cleaning capacity of a
sample of detergent in soft and hard water

Aim
To study the comparative cleaning capacity of a sample of
detergent in soft and hard water.
Theory
> Detergent: It is the sodium or potassium salt of long-chained
carboxylic acids.

Cleansing Property of Detergent

> Detergent when mixed in water its ionic end dissolves in water
but the long chain of carboxylic acid does not dissolve in water
but dissolves in oil.
> The detergents molecules form structures called ‘micelles’.
> The ionic end is towards the water and the non-ionic end faces
towards the oil.
> This forms emulsion in water.
> The detergent micelles thus helps in dissolving the dirt in water
and we can wash clothes clean.
> Soft water: The water with no salt in it.
> Hard water: The water with dissolved salt in it. It may be
calcium or magnesium salts.
> For cleansing purpose, the foam needs to be produced which
depends on free availability of hydrophobic portion of detergent
(or alkyl group).
> In soft water, detergent shows the cleansing property by
forming foam.
> In hard water, hydrophobic end of detergent is trapped due to
scum or precipitation with the calcium and magnesium salts. This
makes the hard water unsuitable for washing.

Materials Required
Two test tubes, test tube stand and measuring cylinder.
Chemical required: Samples of hard and soft water, detergent
solution and cooking oil.

Procedure (Part A)

1. Take 10 mL of distilled water (soft water) in a test tube. Label it

as ‘A’.
2. Take 10 mL of hard water (water from hand-pump,
underground water) in another test tube. Label it as ‘B’.
3. In both the test tubes, add few drops of detergent solution.
4. Shake the test tubes ‘A’ and ‘B’ vigorously for an equal period
of time. Keep them in the test tube stand and record your
observations.

Observations
1. In test tube A, detergent formed lather or foam.
2. In test tube B, white precipitate was formed with no lather or
foam.

Conclusion
Detergent are effective cleaner only in soft water because the
detergent molecules form lather in soft water. But in case of hard
water, the detergent molecules do not remain as detergent
molecules but the ionic end of detergent reacts with the salts
present in hard water to form curdy white precipitate called scum.

Precautions
1. Use same sample of detergent solution for soft water and hard
water.
2. Same quantity of detergent solution must be added to both the
test tubes containing soft water and hard water.
3. The concentration of all test solutions must be same.
4. Shake every test tube for equal number of times and in a
similar manner.
Note: If hard water is not available prepare some hard water by
dissolving hydrogen carbonate/sulphates/chloride salt of calcium
or magnesium in water.

Procedure (Part B)

1. Take 10 mL of distilled water/soft water and add a drop of

cooking oil in it. Label this test tube as ‘A’.
2. Take 10 mL of hard water and add a drop of cooking oil in it.
Label this test tube as ‘B’.
3. Now, add a few drops of detergent solution in both the test
tubes ‘A’ and ‘B’.
4. Shake both the test tubes vigorously for the same period of
time.
5. Keep them on the test tube stand and record your
observations.

Observations
1. The test tube ‘A’ with soft water showed the oil emulsified due
to detergent solution.
2. The test tube ‘B’ showed no emulsification due to detergent
solution.

Conclusion
1. The formation of emulsion of oil in soft water by detergent
shows the effect of detergent in cleaning.
2. detergents are more effective cleaners in soft water than in
hard water.

Precautions
1. Use same sample of detergent solution for soft water and hard
water.
2. Use same cooking oil for soft water and hard water.
3. The concentration of all test solutions must be same.
4. Shake every test tube for equal number of times and in a
similar manner.
Bibliography
Ncert chemistry text part 2
www.wikipedia.com
www.google.com
www.byjus.com
www.toppr.com
www.cbsetuts.com