ADITYA ACADEMY SENIOR SECONDARY

CHEMISTRY INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT

Name- Soham Chatterjee

Class- XII
Sec- B
Roll.no- 24
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that
Soham Chatterjee
has successfully completed his Chemistry project
titled-
“FOAMING CAPACITY OF SOAP”
under the supervision and guidance of
CHEMISTRY TEACHER
in the partial fulfillment of the Chemistry
Practical
Assessment conducted during the academic year
2024-2025

EXAMINER TEACHER
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my immense gratitude to
my chemistry teacher Gautam Mukherjee for the
help and guidance he provided for completing this
project.
I also thank my parents who gave their ideas and
input in making this project. Most of all I thank our
school management for providing us with the
facilities and opportunity to do this project.
Lastly, I would like to thank my classmates who
have done this project along with me. Their
support made this project fruitful.

- Soham Chatterjee
 INDEX
CONTENT PAGE NO
CERTIFICATE 2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3
AIM 5
INTRODUCTION 6-8
PREPARATION OF SOAP 9-10
EXPERIMENT 11
THEORY & MATERIAL GE 12
REQUIRED
PROCEDURE 13-14
OBSERVATION 15
RESULT 16
BIBLIOGRAPHY 17
 Aim
To compare the foaming capacity of
various soaps
 INTRODUCTION
Soaps are sodium or potassium salts of higher fatty acids like stearic,
palmitic and oleic acids that can be either saturated or unsaturated. They
contain a long hydrocarbon chain of about 10-20 carbon with one carboxylic
acid group as the functional group. A soap molecule is a tadpole shaped
structure, whose ends have different polarities. At one end is the long
hydrocarbon chain that is non- polar and hydrophobic, i.e., insoluble in water
but oil soluble. At the other end is the short polar carboxylate ion which is
hydrophilic i.e., water soluble but insoluble in oil and grease. Long
Hydrocarbon Chain contain Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic end. When soap is
shaken with water it becomes a soap solution that is colloidal in nature.
Agitating it tends to concentrate the solution on the surface and causes
foaming. This helps the soap molecules make a unimolecular film on the
surface of water and to penetrate the fabric. The long non-polar end of a
soap molecule that are hydrophobic, gravitate towards and surround the dirt
(fat or oil with dust absorbed in it). The short polar end containing the
carboxylate ion faces the water away from the dirt. A number of soap
molecules surround or encircle dirt and grease in a clustered structure
called 'micelles', which encircles such particles anc emulsify them. The
cleansing action of soaps decreases in hard water. Hard water contains
Calcium and magnesium ions which react with sodium carbonate to
produce insoluble carbonates of higher fatty acids. This hardness can be
removed by addition of Sodium Carbonate.
 COMMERCIAL
PREPARATION OF SOAP
The most popular soap making process today is the cold process
method, where fats such as olive oil react with strong alkaline
solution, while some soapers use the historical hot process.
Handmade soap differs from industrial soap in that, usually, an
excess of fat is sometimes used to consume the alkali (super
fatting), and in that the glycerin is not removed, leaving a naturally
moisturizing soap and not pure detergent. Often, emollients such as
jojoba oil or Shea butter are added 'at trace' (the point at which the
saponification process is sufficiently advanced that the soap has
begun to thicken), after most of the oils have saponified, so that
they remain unreacted in the finished soap.
 FAT IN SOAP
Soap is derived from either vegetable or animal fats. Sodium
Tallo Wate, a common ingredient in much soap, is derived
from rendered beef fat. Soap can also be made of vegetable
oils, such as palm oil, and the product is typically softer. An
array of specifiable oils and fats are used in the process
such as olive, coconut, palm, cocoa butter to provide
different qualities. For example, olive oil provides mildness
in soap; coconut oil provides lots of lather; while coconut
and palm oils provide hardness. Sometimes castor oil can
also be used as an ebullient. Smaller amounts of
unsaponifiable oils and fats that do not yield soap are
sometimes added for further benefits.
PREPARATION OF SOAP
In cold-process and hot-process soap making, heat may be
required for saponification. Cold-process soap making takes
place at a sufficient temperature to ensure the liquification of
the fat being used. Unlike cold-processed soap, hot-
processed soap can be used right away because the alkali
and fat saponify more quickly at the higher temperatures
used in hot-process soap making. Hot-process soap making
was used when the purity of alkali was unreliable. Cold-
process soap making requires exact measurements of alkali
and fat amounts and computing their ratio, using
saponification charts to ensure that the finished product is
mild and skin-friendly.
Hot process:
In the hot-process method, alkali and fat are boiled together at 80-100 °C
until saponification occurs, which the soap maker can determine by taste or
by eye. After saponification has occurred, the soap is sometimes
precipitated from the solution by adding salt, and the excess liquid drained
off. The hot, soft soap is then spooned into a Mould.

Cold process:
A cold-process soap maker first looks up the saponification value of the fats
being used on a saponification chart, which is then used to calculate the
appropriate amount of alkali. Excess unreacted alkali in the soap will result
in a very high pH and can burn or irritate skin. Not enough alkali and the soap
is greasy. The alkali is dissolved in water. Then oils are heated, or melted if
they are solid at room temperature. Once both substances have cooled to
approximately 100- 110°F (37-43°C) and are no more than 10°F (~55°C)
apart, they may be combined. This alkali-fat mixture is stirred until "trace".
There are varying levels of trace. After much stirring, the mixture turns to the
consistency of a thin pudding. "Trace" corresponds roughly to viscosity.
Essential and fragrance oils are added at light trace. Introduction to the
experiment Soap samples of various brands is taken and their foaming
capacity is noticed. Various soap samples are taken separately, and their
foaming capacity is observed. The soap with the maximum foaming capacity
is thus said to have the best cleaning capacity.
 INTRODUCTION TO THE EXPERIMENT
Soap samples of various brands are taken, and their foaming
capacity is noticed. Various soap samples are taken separately,
and their foaming capacity is observed. The soap with the maximum
foaming capacity is thus said to have the best cleaning capacity.
The test requires to be done with distilled water as well as with tap
water. The test of soap on distilled water gives the actual strength of
the soap's cleaning capacity. The second test with tap water tests
the effect of Ca2+ and Mg2+ salts on their foaming capacities.

OBJECTIVE:
To compare the foaming capacity of various
soaps.
 THEORY
The foaming capacity of soap depends upon the nature of the soap
and its concentration. This may be compared by shaking equal
volumes of solutions of different samples having the same
concentration with same force for the same amount of time. The
solutions are then allowed to stand when the foam produced during
shaking disappears gradually the time taken for the foam to
disappear in each sample is determined. The longer the time taken
for the disappearance of the foam for the given sample of soap,
greater is its foaming capacity or cleansing action.

Apparatus
Requirements:
Five 100ml (about 3.38 oz) conical flasks, five test tubes, 100ml
measuring cylinder, test tube stand, weighing machine, stopwatch.

Chemical Requirements:
Five different soap samples, distilled water, tap water.
 PROCEDURE
1. Take five 100ml (about 3.38 oz) conical flasks and number them
1,2,3,4,5. Put 16ml of water in each flask and add 8 grams of soap.
2. Warm the contents to get a solution.
3. Take five test tubes; add 1ml of soap solution to 3ml of water.
Repeat the process for each soap solution in different test tubes.

4. Close the mouth of the test tube and shake vigorously for a
minute. Do the same for all test tubes and with equal force.
5. Start the timer immediately and notice the rate of disappearance
of 2mm of froth.

6. Record the observation in tabular form

 OBSERVATION
The following outcomes were noticed at the end of the experiment

Test tube no Volume of soap Volume of Time taken for

solution water added disappearance
(see)
1. Dove 8ml 16 ml 1' 42"
2. Lux 8 ml 16 ml 3' 28"
3. Tetmosol 8 ml 16 ml 5' 10"
4. Santoor 8 ml 16 ml 15' 32"
5. Cinthol 8 ml 16 ml 9' 40"
 RESULT
The cleansing capacity of the soaps taken is in the order:
Santoor > Dove > Cinthol > Tetmosol > Lux
From this experiment, we can infer that Santoor has the highest
foaming capacity, in other words, highest cleaning capacity. Lux, on
the other hand, is found to have taken the least amount of time for
the disappearance of foam produced and thus is said to be having
the least foaming capacity and cleansing capacity.

Test for hardness in water

Test for Ca2+ and Mg2+ salts in the water supplied

Test for Ca2+ in water
H2O + NH4Cl + NH4OH + (NH4)2CO3 (No precipitate)
Test for Mg2+ in water
H2O + NH4Cl + NH4OH + (NH₃) ₃PO₄ (No precipitate)

The tests show negative results for the presence of the salts causing
hardness in water. The water used does not contain salts of Ca2+
and Mg2+. The tap water provided is soft and thus, the experimental
results and values hold good for distilled water and tap water.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:
Lab Manual Chemistry-XII
Comprehensive Chemistry – 12

Internet sources:

www.wikipedia.org
www.google.com
www.yahoo.com
https://www.icbse.com