Soap and detergent | Chemistry, Uses, Properties, & Facts
2024年11月15日 · Soap and detergent, substances that, when dissolved in water, possess the ability to remove dirt from surfaces such as human skin, textiles, and other solids. The seemingly simple process of cleaning a soiled surface is, in fact, complex. Learn more about soap and detergent in this article.
soap summary | Britannica
soap, Any of a group of organic compounds that are salts of fatty acids, usually stearic acid (with 18 carbon atoms) or palmitic acid (with 16 carbon atoms). The source may be any vegetable oil or animal fat.
Soap and detergent - Fatty Acids, Sodium Hydroxide, Glycerin
2024年11月15日 · Soap and detergent - Fatty Acids, Sodium Hydroxide, Glycerin: Fatty alcohols are important raw materials for anionic synthetic detergents. Development of commercially feasible methods in the 1930s for obtaining these provided a great impetus to …
Potash | Definition, Uses, & Facts | Britannica
2024年11月15日 · Potash, various potassium compounds, chiefly crude potassium carbonate. The names caustic potash, potassa, and lye are frequently used for potassium hydroxide (see potassium). In fertilizer terminology, potassium oxide is called potash. Potash soap is a soft soap made from the lye leached from wood
Lye | chemical compound | Britannica
Lye, the alkaline liquor obtained by leaching wood ashes with water, commonly used for washing and in soapmaking; more generally, any strong alkaline solution or solid, such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide (see sodium;
Tallow | Animal Fat, Rendering & Soapmaking | Britannica
2024年12月28日 · Tallow consists mainly of glyceryl esters of oleic, palmitic, and stearic acids. Tallow was used chiefly to make soap and candles until the development of synthetic surfactants made it available for animal feeds and as a base for chemicals and lubricants.
How Does Soap Work? | Britannica - Encyclopedia Britannica
Soap molecules have on one end what’s known as a polar salt, which is hydrophilic, or attracted to water. The other end of the molecule is a nonpolar chain of fatty acids or hydrocarbons, which is hydrophobic—meaning that it’s repelled by water but …
Napalm | Incendiary Weapon, Vietnam War, Firebombing | Britannica
Napalm, the aluminum salt or soap of a mixture of naphthenic and aliphatic carboxylic acids (organic acids of which the molecular structures contain rings and chains, respectively, of carbon atoms), used to thicken gasoline for use as an incendiary in flamethrowers and fire bombs.
Hard water | Definition, Examples, & Facts | Britannica
2024年11月29日 · Calcium and magnesium ions in hard water react with the higher fatty acids of soap to form an insoluble gelatinous curd, thereby causing a waste of the soap. This objectionable reaction does not take place with modern detergents.
Borax | Cleaning, Laundry & Soapmaking | Britannica
2024年12月19日 · A soft and light, colourless crystalline substance, borax is used in many ways—as a component of glass and pottery glazes in the ceramics industry, as a solvent for metal-oxide slags in metallurgy, as a flux in welding and soldering, and as a fertilizer additive, a soap supplement, a disinfectant, a mouthwash, and a water softener.