what are detergents chemically? what are merits and demerits of using detergents for cleansing?
Answers
Answer:
A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with cleaning properties in dilute solutions. ... 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.
Merits:
1. They work in hard water
2. They are better than soap having stronger cleansing action
Demerits:
1. They are non-biodegradable
2. They are harsh on skin. These substances are usually alkyl benzenesulfonates, a family of compounds that are similar to soap but are more soluble in hard water, because the polar sulfonate (of detergents) is less likely than the polar carboxyl (of soap) to bind to calcium and other ions found in hard water.
Answer:
A detergent is a substance or a mixture containing soaps and/or surfactants (any organic substance/mixture) intended for washing and cleaning processes.
merits:They can be used for cleaning even if the water is hard and unlike soap, they do not form lather with hard water.
demerits: They are non-biodegradable and cause water and soil pollution. They are highly basic and harmful to skin.