CHEMISTRY

NVESTIGATORY
PROJECT

Submitted by Name : Lakshith .P.C

Submitted
Class : XII
A BY:
AKASH
Roll No. : SHARMA
Kendriya Vidyalaya
CLASS:
Malleshwaram
XII-B

TOPIC :
FOAMING
CAPACITY OF
SOAPS

Certificate
This is to certify that Master LAKSHITH. P. C, student of
Class XII A, Kendriya Vidyalaya Malleshwaram,

has

completed the project titled FOAMING CAPACITY OF

SOAPS towards the partial fulfillment of credit for the
Chemistry practical evaluation conducted by AISSCE
(CBSE), under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Rubina
M. R, PGT Chemistry,

during the academic year 2015-

2016 .

SUBJECT TEACHER

EXAMINER

Acknowledgements
At the outset , I would like to thank our principal Sri.
T Prabhudas for providing me the golden opportunity
to carry out this wonderful project which has helped me to
know many new things.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my

chemistry mentor Dr. Rubina M. R , for her vital support,
guidance and encouragement, without which this project
would not have come forth.

I would also like to express my gratitude to the other

staff of the Department of Chemistry for their support
during the making of this project.
Finally I would like to thank my family members and
friends for their timely contribution and valuable
guidance.

Lakshith .P.C

-: CONTENTS :Sl
no.

TOPIC

Page
no.

Preface
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.
This project aims at finding the foaming

AIM :
To study the
foaming capacity
of soaps.

INTRODUCTIO
Nsurfactant used in
Soap is ananionic
conjunction withwater for washing
andcleaning, which historically comes
either in solidbars or in the form of a
viscousliquid. Soap consists ofsodium
orpotassium salts offatty acids and is
obtained by reacting common oils or
fats with a strongalkaline in a process
known assaponification. The fats
arehydrolysed
by
the
base,
yieldingalkali salts of fatty acids
(crude soap) andglycerol.

Various soaps

Soaps are useful for cleaning because

soapmolecules have both ahydrophilic end,
which dissolves inwater, as well as
ahydrophobic end, which is able to
dissolvenon polar grease molecules. Applied
to a soiled surface, soapy water effectively
holds particles incolloidal suspension so it
can be rinsed off with clean water. The
hydrophobic portion 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 asolive oil react withstrong alkaline
solution, while somesoap makers 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
theglycerine is not removed, leaving
a naturally moisturizing soap and not
pure detergent. Often,emollients such
asjojoba oil are added at trace (the
point at which thesaponification
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.

commercial
production of soap

Fat in soap
Soap is derived from either vegetable
or animal fats.Sodium Tallowate, a
common ingredient in much soap, is
derived fromrendered beef fat. Soap
can also be made of vegetable oils,
such aspalm oil, and the product is
typically softer.
An array ofsaponifiable oils and fats
are used in the process such as olive,
coconut, palm, cocoa butter to
provide
different
qualities.
For
example, olive oil provides mildness
in soap; coconut oil provides lots of
lather; while coconut and palm oils
provide hardness.
Sometimes castor oil can also be
used as an ebullient. Smaller
amounts ofunsaponifable oils and
fats that do not yield soap are
sometimes
added
for
further
benefits.
Cleansing action of soap

Preparation of soap
In cold-process and hot-process soap
making,
heat
may
be
required
forsaponification.
Cold-process
soap
making takes place at a sufficient
temperature to ensure theliquification of
the fat being used. Unlike cold-processed
soap, hot-processed soap can be used
right away because the alkali and fat
saponify more quickly at the higher
temperatures used in hot-process soap
making.

production of soap

Hot-process soap making was used when

the purity of alkali was unreliable.
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.

Introduction to the
experiment
Soap samples of various brands are taken and
their foaming capacity is noticed. 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
THE

OBJECTIVE

OF

THIS

EXPERIMENT

IS

TO

DETERMINE THE FOAMING CAPACITY OF VARIOUS

SOAP SAMPLES AND TO CONCLUDE BY MAKING A
COMPARISION OF THE SAME.

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 100ml conical flasks
Five test tubes
Five test tubes
100ml measuring cylinder
100ml measuring cylinder
Test tube stand
Test tube stand
Weighing machine
Weighing machine
Stop watch
Stop watch
Five different soap samples
Five different soap samples
Distilled water
Distilled water
Tap water
Tap water

PROCEDURE
I. 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.
II. Warm the contents to get a
solution.
III. Take five test tubes; add 1ml
of soap solution to 2ml of
water. Repeat the process for
each soap solution in different
test tubes.
IV. Close the mouth of the test
tube and shake vigorously for
a minute. Do the same for all
test tubes and with equal
force.
V. Start the timer immediately
and notice the rate of
disappearance of 2mm of

OBSERVATIONS

The following outcomes were noticed

at the end of the experiment :
Test
Tube no.

1.
Dove
2. Lux

Vol.
Vol. of
Time
of
water
taken
soap added
for
soluti (in ml) disapp
on
earanc
(in
e of
ml)
2mm
8ml
16ml
1142
8ml

16ml

328

3.
8ml
16ml
510
Rexona
4.
8ml
16ml
1532
Santoor
5.
8ml
16ml
940
Table 1 : Experiment observations for
Cinthol

Distilled water

OBSERVATIONS

Test
Tube no.

1.
Dove
2. Lux
3.
Rexona
4.
Santoor
5.
Cinthol

Vol.
Vol. of
Time
of
water
taken
soap added
for
soluti (in ml) disapp
on
earanc
(in
e of
ml)
2mm
8ml
16ml
1012
8ml

16ml

238

8ml

16ml

410

8ml

16ml

1352

8ml

16ml

750

Table 2 : Experiment observations for Tap

water.

RESULTS
a.

EXPERIMENT RESULT :

. The cleansing capacity of the soaps

taken for the experiment for both
distilled water and tap water is in the
order :

Santoor > Dove > Cinthol

> Rexona > Lux
b. HARDNESS TEST RESULT :
. 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+.

CONCLUSIONS
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.
Foaming capacity of soap in maximum in
Distilled water.
The foaming capacity of soap increases on
the addition of Sodium Carbonate in Tap
water.

PRECAUTIONS
Use the same sample and same weight of soap
for the various flasks.
While stirring the soap solution, do not spill any
solution out of the flasks.
Heat the beaker gently with constant stirring on
a Bunsen flame. Place the wire gauze on the
tripod stand, to ensure heating is gentle and
evaporation of water is avoided. Evaporation
will reduce the volume of the water.
Carefully measure the same quantity of soap
solution as needed for the experiment.
Each test tube containing the soap solution must
be shaken with the same force and for the same
period of time.
Be very careful while noting down the time
using stopwatch.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Together With Lab Manual
Chemistry-XII
www.icbse.com
www.sciencebuddies.com
www.technopedia.com
www.wikipedia.com
NCERT Chemistry book
www.howmagnetswork.com