Question

Explain the process of soap formation with the chemical reaction involved

Answer 1

Explanation:

Soaps are sodium or potassium salts of long chain fatty acids. When triglycerides in fat/oil react with aqueous NaOH or KOH, they are converted into soap and glycerol. This is called alkaline hydrolysis of esters. Since this reaction leads to the formation of soap, it is called the Saponification process.

Answer 2

the process of soap formation is called Saponification.

Saponification is the hydrolysis of an ester under acidic or basic conditions to form an alcohol and the salt of a carboxylic acid. It is commonly used to refer to the reaction of a metallic alkali (base) with a fat or oil to form soap.  

Example: Ethanoic acid reacts with alcohols in the presence of a concentated sulphuric acid to form esters.

C2H5OH  + CH3COOH    →    CH3COOC2H5    + H2O

The ester, on treating with a base such as NaOH is converted back to alcohol and sodium salt of carboxylic acid. The reaction is known as saponification because it is used in the manufacture of soap.

CH3COOC2H5  + NaOH  →   C2H5OH   + CH3COONa