Principle

The "saponification" of fat which is carried out here corresponds to the classical procedure for producing soap. According to old recipes it can also be carried out using plant ashes (potash).

Sharing the work in groups can be particularly motivating here, as from different starting materials the same final product is obtained. The final product exhibits very different properties compared to those of the starting materials. The various experimental procedures can be presented by the work groups and the fact that the results are identical can be fruitfully discussed.

Learning objectives

• Soaps can be produced from long-chain carboxylic acids or from fats by the addition of alkali liquor.
• Soaps must therefore consist of alkali salts of fatty acids.

Benefits

• Easy teaching and efficient learning by using interactive experimentation PHYWE-Software
• Experiment is part of a complete solution set with experiments for the topic Organic Chemistry matched with international curriculum: all topics are covered