2006-11-09 03:58:49 · 8 answers · asked by rarara 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
I'll answer the last part of your question first. Soap is made up of polar molecules. That just means that one end of each molecule is different from the other like the poles of a magnet. One end dissolves in grease and fats while the other end dissolves in water. Since most really dirty things are fatty and greasy, this means that one end of each soap molecule sticks to the dirt on your hands while the other end sticks to the water running over them. This washes the dirt away. Why not use plain water? If you don't have soap plain water will help get you clean but because of surface tension water won't stick to grease so you will never get completely clean. Another class of cleaners solves this problem. Detergents reduce the surface tension of water allowing it to clean better. Look at the list of ingredients on your cleanser. If one of them is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, your cleanser is a detergent. Now for the first part of your question. Long ago people found that you could make a cleaner by heating lard (renderings from animals killed for food) with potash, an alkali produced by burning wood, probably for cooking the aforementioned food. This discovery was probably accidental, the result of being in the right place at the right time. It took place so long ago that the discoverer (or discoverers, it probably happened in several places at different times) is lost in history. BTW. It's no coincidence that many of today's soap producers are owned by or connected to slaughter houses and meat producers. Do some research on Procter and Gamble. Your teacher will be proud of you.
2006-11-09 04:29:45 · answer #1 · answered by JimWV 3 · 45⤊ 3⤋
I'm not sure if any one individual has been credited with the invention of soap. However, it has been known since about 600 BC, when the Phoenicians prepared a curdy material by boiling goat fat with extracts of wood ash. The use of soap didn't become wide spread until the 18th century.
Basically, a soap molecule has two parts. An ionic head which is hydrophilic (water soluble) and a hydrocarbon tail which is hydrophobic (insoluble in water). The hydrocarbon tail of soap is attracted to dirt, oil, grease, etc. The water soluble head of soap lets the soap with the dirt attached to the tail be washed away in water.
2006-11-09 04:23:04 · answer #2 · answered by bagpiper75 1 · 8⤊ 0⤋
Soap has been around for thousands of years, Babylon (3000 bc), Egypt (1500 bc).
Soap is an excellent cleanser because of its ability to act as an emulsifying agent. An emulsifier is capable of dispersing one liquid into another immiscible liquid. This means that while oil (which attracts dirt) doesn't naturally mix with water, soap can suspend oil/dirt in such a way that it can be removed.
The organic part of a natural soap is a negatively-charged, polar molecule. Its hydrophilic (water-loving) carboxylate group (-CO2) interacts with water molecules via ion-dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding. The hydrophobic (water-fearing) part of a soap molecule, its long, nonpolar hydrocarbon chain, does not interact with water molecules. The hydrocarbon chains are attracted to each other by dispersion forces and cluster together, forming structures called micelles. In these micelles, the carboxylate groups form a negatively-charged spherical surface, with the hydrocarbon chains inside the sphere. Because they are negatively charged, soap micelles repel each other and remain dispersed in water.
2006-11-09 04:40:30 · answer #3 · answered by Dr. J. 6 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Soap has been known for at least 2,300 years. No one knows when or where people first made soap.
Soap was widely known in the Roman Empire; whether the Romans learned its use and manufacture from ancient Mediterranean peoples or from the Celts, inhabitants of Britannia, is not known.
The Celts, who produced their soap from animal fats and plant ashes, named the product 'saipo', from which the word 'soap' is derived.
2006-11-09 04:16:09 · answer #4 · answered by a q 2 · 5⤊ 0⤋
soap works by surrounding the non-polar "dirt" molecule with a micelle so it can be taken into the polar water solution
2006-11-09 04:04:04 · answer #5 · answered by shiara_blade 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Not sure who invented it, but if you take oil and water and try to mix them...they won't unless you add soap. So i guess its a chemical reaction that binds the water molecules with the dirt molecules.
2006-11-09 04:04:06 · answer #6 · answered by wonbadappl 2 · 2⤊ 5⤋
i did ha ha
2016-05-22 00:30:50 · answer #7 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
jonny carbolic,made a fortune
2006-11-09 04:28:36 · answer #8 · answered by STEVE T 4 · 0⤊ 8⤋