Is liquid soap polar?

Question

I think it might be polar, since it pulls dirt molecules away from stuff, but I'm not very sure.

Answer 1

The soap molecule is very long. One end is polar (unequal sharing of electrons) and the other end is not (equal sharing of electrons). The polar end grabs onto a water molecule, the nonpolar end grabs onto fats and oils. When you send the soapy water down the drain the soap molecules drag the fat and oil with it down the drain!

Answer 2

The answer that talks about the two parts of the soap molecule is the right one. Please dont confuse polar in chemistry to mean anything magnetic, or have to do with temperature. Polar refers to a bond that results from an unequal sharing of electrons (ie a bond between two atoms of different electronegativity.) The soap molecule is both polar and non polar at opposite ends of the molecule. the polar part dissolves in water, the nonpolar end dissolves the dirt.

Answer 3

All soap molecules are exactly the same: they are linear, and have a non-polar part and a polar part. The polar part ensures that it can dissolve in water, and the non-polar part can coat oily things (like stains, dead skin cells, food leftovers) and basically make them water soluble. The easiest way to think about it that a bunch of soap molecules will form a sphere around oily things with the non-polar part of the soap molecules pointing towards the inside of the sphere (where the oil is), and the polar (water soluble) part of the soap molecule pointing out.

The only difference between liquid and solid soap is that usually the non-polar part of the soap molecule is smaller in liquid soaps, to make them more water-soluble (people like clear liquids and wouldn't buy liquid soap if it had bits and flakes floating in it).

Just since you might have the concepts mixed up a bit, polar just means it's water soluble, non-polar means it's not (but is soluble in oils). Salt is polar, so it dissolves in water. Pepper is non-polar, so it dissolves in oil.

Answer 4

I thought you meant polar as in cold. Soap is not magnetic, and it has no electrical field to "pull" anything. Soap is fat-based, and facilitates the combination of oil and water.

Answer 5

since there are many different types of soaps, and different magnetic properties in the ingredients, and a north, and south pole on a simple magnetic field, I would conclude that soap is 'Bi-Polar'.