Bright Day School

CBSE Unit
2021-22

Chemistry
Investigatory Project

Topic: Foaming Capacity

of Soaps

Name: Siddhant Shah

Std: XII Div: B
Exam Seat No.: 12085

Date: Teacher’s Sign

CERTIFICATE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank our
Principal, Ms. Neeta Sharma
and Headmistress, Dr.
Deepshikha Shukla.
Special thanks to our
Chemistry teacher, Vaidehi
Mam.
 CONTENTS
1.AIM
2.INTRODUCTION
3.COMMERCIAL
PROUCTION OF SOAP
4.PREPARATION OF SOAPS
5.MATERIAL REQUIRED
6.PROCEDURE
7.OBSERVATION
8.RESULT
 AIM
INVESTIGATION
OF FOAMING
CAPACITY OF
SOAP
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.
 COMMERCIAL
PRODUCTION OF SOAP
The most popular soap making
process today is the cold process
method, where fats such as olive
oil react with strong alkaline
solution, while some soapers use
the historical hot process.

Handmade soap differs from

industrial soap in that, usually, an
excess of fat is sometimes used to
consume the alkali (super fatting),
and in that the glycerin is not
removed, leaving a naturally
moisturizing soap and not pure
detergent.

Often, emollients such as jojoba oil

or Shea butter are added ‘at trace’
(the point at which the saponification
process is sufficiently advanced that
the soap has begun to thicken), after
most of the oils have saponified, so
that they remain unreacted in the
finished soap.
 PREPARATION
OF SOAPS
COLD PROCESS
Cold-process soap making takes
place at a sufficient temperature to
ensure the liquification of the fat
being used.
Cold-process soap making requires
exact measurements of alkali and fat
amounts and computing their ratio,
using saponification charts to ensure
that the finished product is mild and
skin-friendly.
HOT PROCESS
In the hot-process method, alkali and
fat are boiled together at 80 - 100 °C
until saponification occurs, which the
soap maker can determine by taste or
by eye.
 OBJECTIVE
 To compare the foaming capacity of
various soaps & determine which is
more effective in nature.

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.
 MATERIALS
REQUIRED
Five 100ml Conical Flasks
Five Test Tubes
100ml Measuring Cylinder
Test Tube Stand
Weighing Machine
Stop watch
Five different Soap Samples
Distilled Water
Tap Water
PROCEDURE
1.
Take five 100ml conical flasks and
number them 1,2,3,4 & 5. Put 16ml of
water in each flask and add 8 Gms of
soap.
2.
Warm the contents to get a solution.
3.
Take five test tubes; add 1ml of soap
solution to 3ml of water.
4.
Repeat the process for each soap
solution in different test tubes.
5.
Close the mouth of the test tube and
shake vigorously for a minute. Do the
same for all test tubes and with equal
force.
6.
Start the timer immediately and notice
the rate of disappearance of 2mm of
froth.
OBSERVATION
 The following outcomes were
noticed at the end of the experiment

Sr Test Volume Volume Time taken

No. Tube No. of soap of for
solution water disappearance
added of 2mm

1. Dove 8ml 16ml 10’22”

2. Lux 8ml 16ml 2’20”

3. Tetmoso 8ml 16ml 4’13”

l

4. Santoor 8ml 16ml 14’02”

5.  Cinthol 8ml 16ml 8’20”

 RESULT
The cleansing capacity of the soaps taken
is in the order:

Santoor>Dove>Cinthol>Tetmosol>Lux

From this experiment, we can infer that

Santoor has the highest foaming capacity,
in other words, highest cleaning capacity.

Lux 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.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Parts of this project have been
referred from foreign sources and
have been included in this
investigatory project after editing.