CERTIFICATE

This is to certify thata of Class of XII

(science) has completed the chemistry project
entitled “Investigation Of Different
Foaming Capacity Of Different
Washing Soaps” herself and under my
guidance. The progress of the project has been
continuously reported and has been in my
knowledge consistently.

Internal Examiner External Examiner

Principal
 Acknowledgement
It gives me great pleasure to express my gratitude
towards our chemistry teacher Dr. Dipatnu
Debnath for his guidance, support and
encouragement throughout the duration of the
project . without his motivation and help the
successful completion of this project would not
have been possible.
I also like to thank Principal, Modern Higher
Secondary School for his support and
encouragement.
Last but not the least, I want to thanks my family
members and friends for their unlimited support.

Date:
 AIM
INVESTIGATION OF
FOAMING CAPACITY OF
DIFFERENT WASHING
SOAP
 Statement of problem:

The project’s claim is to investigate the

foaming capacity of different washing soaps.
Alternatively we can say that this project
looks at the cleansing property of the soaps(as
the foaming capacity is directly related to the
cleansing factor) and decide which soaps to
be used for cleaning and bathing purpose.
Objectives Of This Study:
Bar soaps has been used for centuries and
continues to be an important product for
bathing and cleaning. It is also a mild
antiseptic and ingestible antidote for certain
poisons. When soap is shaken with water thus
agitating to concentrate the solution on the
surface and cause foaming. This helps the
soap molecules make a unimolecular film on
the surface of water and to penetrate the fabric
thereby, increasing the cleansing action of
soap. Here in this project our objectives is to
investigate the foaming capacity of different
washing soaps and hence to determine their
cleansing capacity (or power).
So certain steps are taken in the context as
follows:-
i) Soap samples of various brands are taken
separately in test tubes.
ii)Their foaming capacity is determined by
observing the time required for
disappearances of foams in each cases.
The soap with the maximum foaming
capacity is said to have the best cleansing
capacity. The test requires to be done with
distilled water as well as tap water. The test
of soap on distilled water gives the actual
strength of soaps cleaning capacity, the
second test with tap water tests the effect of
Ca2+ and Mg2+ salts on their foaming
capacities.
Introduction:
Soaps are the sodium or potassium salts of
higher fatty acids such as palmitic acid
(C15H35COOH), stearic acid (C17H35COOH),
oleic acid (C17H33COOH) etc. 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 has 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.
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, face the water
away from the dirt. A number of soap molecules
surround or encircle dirt and grease in a clustered
called ‘micelles’, which encircles such particles
and emulsify them.
Thus, the washing (or cleansing) capacity of soap
depends upon its foaming capacity, i.e. the extent to
which it produces foam with water. The foaming
capacity also depends upon the quality of water used. If
soft water is used, soaps easily produce a lot of lather.
On the other hand, if hard water is used, will not
produce lather or foam. The reason being that hard
water contains magnesium and calcium ions which
form insoluble magnesium and calcium salts of
carboxylic acids which in turn, precipitate out in the
form of scum.
2C17H35COONa + Ca2+ (C17H35COO)2Ca + 2Na+
(water soluble) (ppt.)
2C17H35COONa + Mg2+ (C17H35COO)2Mg + 2Na+
Problem Question:
Question arises on the fact that which soap is the best to be
used for cleansing and bathing purposes in our daily life as
there is a vast variety of soaps of different brands available in
market which hinders our choice for acquiring the most
functional soap. Hence, we look at the foaming capacity of
different washing soaps to deduce the best cleansing soap to
be used.
Humans have used soap for millennia. Evidence exists of the
production of soap-like materials in around 2800 BC in
ancient Babylon
Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and
lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are
surfactants usual used for washing, bathing, and other types of
housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are used as
thickeners, component of some lubricants and precursors to
catalyst. When used for cleaning, soap solubilizes particles
and grime, which can then be separated from the article being
cleaned. In hand washing, as a surfactant, when lathered with
a little water, soap kills microorganisms by disorganizing their
membrane lipid bilayer and denaturing their proteins. It also
emulsifies oils, enabling them to be carried away by running
water. Hence, there is a need to find the most functional soaps
to be used
Thus, alternatively the main purpose of this experiment is to
determine the cleansing capacity of different washing soaps
available.
Theory :
There is no quantitative method for the
determination of foaming capacity of soap.
The foaming capacity of soap depends upon
the nature and concentration of soap in the
sample. This may be compared by shaking
equal volumes of the solutions of the different
samples of soaps having the same
concentration with the same force and for the
same period 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 foam in the given
sample of soap, greater is its foaming
capacity or cleansing capacity.
Materials Required:-
Apparatus:
1. Five 100ml Conical Flasks,
2. Five 20ml Test Tubes,
3. 100ml Measuring Cylinders,
4. Test Tube Stand,
5. Weighing machine And
6. Stopwatch.

Chemicals Required:
1. Five Different Samples Of Soaps (Namely Dove, Lux,
Tetmosol, Santoor, Cinthol.)
2. Distilled Water.
Procedure:
1.Take five 100ml conical flask and number
them as A, B, C, D and E. Put 50ml of
distilled water in each of conical flasks and
add 5gm of soap shavings or granules of
different soap samples to each flask.
2.Warm the contents of each flask to get a clear
solution.
3.Take five 20ml test tubes and add 10ml of
distilled water to each one of them and label
them as A,B,C,D and E. Now add 2ml of soup
solution from each conical flask. To the
corresponding test tube.
4.Close the mouth of the test tube A with your
thumb and shake its contents vigorously for
one minute. Place test tube in the test tube
stand and start the stop watch immediately.
Note the time taken for disappearance of the
foam produced.
5.Repeat the same procedure for test tubes
B,C,D and E shaking each time with the same
force and for the same time (one minute). Note
 the time taken for disappearance of foam in
each case and record the observations in a
tabular form.

Fig-I) shaking of test tube for producing foam.

Fig-II) 5 test tubes showing different foaming
capacities.

OBSERVATION :-
Amount of each soap sample taken =5.0 gm
Volume of distilled water added to each soap
sample = 50 ml.
Test te Name of Volume Volume Time taken for
the soap of soap of water disappearance
sample solution added of foam
A Dove 2ml 10ml 11’42”
B Lux 2ml 10ml 3’28”
C Tetmosol 2ml 10ml 5’10”
D Santoor 2ml 10ml 15’32”
E Cinthol 2ml 10ml 9’46”
ANALYSIS OF DATA
The time taken for disappearance of foam of the
soaps are in order-
Santoor > Dove > Cinthol > Tetmosol > Lux.
From this experiment we can infer that Santoor
has the highest foaming capacity ,in other words,
have the highest cleaning capacity.
On the other hand, Lux is found to have the least
amount of time for disappearance of foam
produced and thus is said to have the least
foaming capacity and cleaning capacity.
Hence, the best brand among them is Santoor.
CONCLUSION:-
Foaming capacity of soap is maximum in distilled
water as compared to tap water. The soap for
which the time of disappearance of foam is highest
has the maximum foaming capacity and is the best
quality soap among the soaps test.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:-
The study for foaming capacity of different
washing soaps has greatly helped in deducing the
best quality soap . While doing the experiment ,
we must ensure that calcium, iron and magnesium
compounds are not dissolved in the water as the
foaming capability is greatly restricted due to the
formation of insoluble scum. Temperature is also a
factor. Hot water creates more foam than that of
cold water. Thirdly, the motion of solvent, if the
water is moving a lot and changing direction it will
cause a great increase in foam, thus, we won’t get
the desirable result. Therefore, factors such as
nature of solvent (tap water or distilled water),
temperature and motion of solvent must be
properly maintained throughout the experiment for
getting the desirable result.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:-
Internet
1. www.google.co.in
2. www.icbse.com
3. www.youtube.com

Books
1.Comprehensive practical chemistry class XII.