Soap is a very interesting chemical. We even discussed it on the discussion board. How does it work, exactly?

Saponification is a process in which soap is formed from mixtures of sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids. These fatty acids are reacted high temperature of At 80°C-100°C with alkali to extract salt. These alkali can be sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide.

Soap has both polar (ionic) and non polar molecules due to which it has characteristics of both hydrophilic substance (having tendency to mix with water) and hydrophobic substance (have tendency to mix with oils) and due to this nature it can act as an emulsifier.

An emulsifier has tendency to diffuse one liquid into another liquid which is incapable of mixing with homogeneous liquid like water.

Cleansing action takes place due to presence of ionic and non-polar properties at same time, in combination with solubility principles. The ionic end of soap molecule is the salt end. It is hydrophilic (water soluble) in nature. The non-polar end cotains long hydrocarbon chains and is hydrophobic (water repellent).

When immiscible liquids like grease or oil mixed with soap water, non polar end (hydrophobic end) absorbs the dirt which means the soap will form the micelles and trap the dirt in it. As micelles is soluble in water it will remove the dirt with it.