Question

What is soap why are soaps not suitable for washing clothes when the water is hard?

Answer 1

Answer:

This scum is created when soaps react with the calcium and magnesium ions present in hard

Answer 2

Explanation:

Generally soap is the sodium salt (R-COONa) of higher fatty acid or Potassium salt (R-COOK) of higher fatty acid. Here R is called an alkyl radical. General formula of R is CnH2n+1 and the value of n is 12 to 18. Example: Formula of Sodium Stearate soap is C17H35COONa and the formula of Potassium Stearate Soap is C17H35COOK.

Soaps do not work well in hard water since the Ca2+, Mg2+ ions of hard water react with soaps forming insoluble substance. So, it creates unnecessary wastage of soaps and also does harm to the fiber of the clothes.

RCOONa + Ca2+ → (RCOO)2Ca

Thus soaps are not suitable for washing clothes when the water is hard.