chemistry!!!!.. i think?

Question

someone please dumb down the meaning of saponification for me please. i cant quite get what its trying to tell me!! maybe an example will help.

Answer 1

When a fat reacts with lye(NaOH) it forms a soap and glycerol.=saponification

A fat is a triglyceride. The fatty acids are split from the glycerol(byproduct) .The fatty acids combine with the Na+ from the sodium hydroxide to form a soap. The OH- attaches to the glycerol. If R represents the organic chain,(17 C long, )

R-COO-Na, COO was the acid end of the fatty acid.

Answer 2

Saponification -> Process by which soap is made. NaOH is dissolved in water and added to any vegetable or animal fat to produce soap.

Picture it like this ...

Triglycerides, the stuff that makes up vegetable oil and animal fat, are molecules which have a central backbone (glycerin) to which large organic groups (fatty acids) are bonded.

G --- FATTYACIDFRAGMENT
G ---FATTYACIDFRAGMENT
G ---FATTYACIDFRAGMENT

NaOH reacts with this, breaking up the bond between the glycerin backbone and the fatty acid fragment. Generating a fatty acid salt (soap) and glycerin

G - OH
G - OH + 3(FATTYACIDFRAGMENT) Na
G - OH

Answer 3

Making soap.

It is a general reaction of adding NaOH to a fatty acid.