Question

what is soap? How can you make soap in a laboratory

Answer 1

Soap is a cleansing agent created by the chemical reactions of a fatty acid with an alkali metal hydroxide

Answer 2

Answer:

The sodium salts of acids are called soaps. A soap is prepared by boiling vegetable oil or fats  from animals along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH).

We can prepare a soap in the laboratory by following the below mentioned procedure.

Required materials:

20ml of castor oil (we can also use coconut oil or any other oil)

Half teaspoon of sodium hydroxide pellets

1 teaspoon of common salt (sodium chloride), and

Glass rod for stirring

Procedure:

• Take the 20ml castor oil in a beaker.

• Mix ½ teaspoon of sodium hydroxide pellets with about 20ml of water to prepare  the sodium hydroxide solution.

• Now, mix the oil with the sodium hydroxide solution.

• Heat the mixture and allow it to boil for about 5 to 10 minutes by constantly stirring it with  the glass rod.

The oil will react with the sodium hydroxide solution to form soap and glycerin.

Oil + Sodium hydroxide → Soap + Glycerin

The soap formed can be separated from the mixture by adding a teaspoon of common salt (sodium  chloride) in the beaker.

• After cooling, the solid soap gets separated from the mixture by floating on the top. Thus, a  soap is prepared in the laboratory.