Question

what is the difference between soaps and detergents

Answer 1

Soaps are sodium or potassium salts of carboxylic acid(long chain hydrocarbon s)
Detergents are sodium salts of salphonic acids.(long chain hydrocarbon s)
Soaps cannot clean in hard water and forms insoluble matter
Detergents can clean in both, hard and soft water,and forms lather.

@TheBrokenGirl

Answer 2

Soaps
1. Soaps are sodium salts of long chain fatty acids.
2. They cannot be used in acidic solutions.
3. They cannot be used in hard water as they produce precipitates with Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions.
4. Soaps are biodegradable.

Detergents
1. Synthetic detergents are sodium salts of long chain alkyl sulphates or long chain alkyl benzene sulphonates.
2. They can be used even in acidic solutions.
3. They can be used even in hard water.
4. Some of the synthetic detergents are not biodegradable.