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Soap Was The First Detergent: Water Dissolves Dirt, However Oily Dirt Will Not

Soap was originally used as the first detergent. Detergents help oil dissolve in water by having a hydrophilic head that is attracted to water and a hydrophobic tail attracted to oil. This allows the detergent molecules to pull oil into droplets and form an emulsion that can be washed away. Modern detergents are often soapless and made from oil refining byproducts, as they perform better than soap which can form hard water scum. Early detergents caused pollution issues but newer biodegradable varieties break down safely.

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Sudhan Nair
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60 views5 pages

Soap Was The First Detergent: Water Dissolves Dirt, However Oily Dirt Will Not

Soap was originally used as the first detergent. Detergents help oil dissolve in water by having a hydrophilic head that is attracted to water and a hydrophobic tail attracted to oil. This allows the detergent molecules to pull oil into droplets and form an emulsion that can be washed away. Modern detergents are often soapless and made from oil refining byproducts, as they perform better than soap which can form hard water scum. Early detergents caused pollution issues but newer biodegradable varieties break down safely.

Uploaded by

Sudhan Nair
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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71 DETERGENTS

Soap was the first detergent


Water dissolves dirt, however oily dirt will not
dissolve in water.
Detergents help oil to dissolve in water.
Soap was used as the first detergent.
Romans made soap by boiling animal fat with wood
ash.
Now soap is made from oils which smell pleasant
(palm oil) which is boiled with potassium
hydroxide solution.

71 DETERGENTS
Detergent molecules are attracted to both water and oil
Oil will not dissolve in water.
Oil molecules are hydrophobic water hating.
Detergent molecules are made up of a head and a tail.
The heads are hydrophilic attracted to water.
The tails are hydrophobic attracted to oil.

71 DETERGENTS
Detergent molecules are attracted to both water
and oil
The hydrophobic tails are attracted to oil and bury
themselves in the oil.
The hydrophilic heads are attracted to water.
The detergent molecules pull the oil into a round
droplet which can float in the water.
The detergent helps the grease to form an emulsion
a mixture of tiny droplets of one liquid in another.

71 DETERGENTS
Many modern
detergents

detergents

are

soapless

Soaps used to be made of sodium/potassium


hydroxide and animal/plant oils.
Now most detergents are made using by products of
oil refining.
These are called soapless detergents they are better
than soaps.
Soap forms scum in hard water, which doesnt
dissolve in water.

71 DETERGENTS
Detergents and pollution
The first soapless detergents caused pollution problems.
Bacteria and sewage systems couldnt break them down,
causing foaming in rivers and streams.
Biodegradable detergents can now be broken down by
bacteria less likely to cause foaming in rivers.
Many detergents contain phosphates a good dirt cleaner.
When they get into rivers, they act as fertilisers, which
encourage the growth of water plants, which use up
the oxygen in the water.

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