Laboratory Exercise 4

Malayan Colleges Laguna – Senior High School
CHM105P – GENERAL CHEMISTRY 1
Laboratory Exercise No. 4

Preparation of Soap
INTRODUCTION
A fat molecule is broken down by sodium hydroxide (lye) into four smaller molecules during the process of
saponification; three of the new molecules are soap and one is glycerol. The process of an acid reacting with
a base to create a salt is known as saponification. A base is any substance that donates electrons or hydroxide
ions and/or accepts protons, while an acid is any molecule or ion that donates protons or hydrogen ions
and/or accepts electrons. When making soap, you combine an acid—an oil or fat—with a base—sodium
hydroxide or lye—to create soap (which is a salt).
Numerous different kinds of acids can react with your base to saponify it. Olive oil, coconut oil, or vegetable
oil, to name a few, could be your acid. Triglycerides, which are compounds made of three fatty acids
attached to a single glycerol molecule, are different in each acid and interact differently with the base
(sodium hydroxide or lye).
In this experiment, you will make soap from a fat or an oil by heating it with sodium hydroxide. You will
precipitate the soap by adding it to a concentrated salt solution, and then you will collect the solid soap using
vacuum filtration. You will then test the soap you made for its pH and foaming ability. You will carry out
the same tests on a commercially prepared soap solution and on a commercially prepared detergent solution,
and you will compare your soap to the commercial soap and detergent.
OBJECTIVES
After completion and study of this experiment, you should be able to:
Describe a procedure for making soap.
1. Explain how soap is formed.

2. Test the chemical properties of soap.
MATERIALS
Cooking oil
2pcs 150 mL Erlenmeyer flask
15ml NaOH
250ml beaker
25g NaCl
Wash bottle with distilled water
10 ml ice-cold water
pH paper
Stirring rod
4 test tubes
Vacuum Filtration (Bunsen Burner stand, a clamp, a side-arm flask, a piece of heavy-walled rubber tubing,
Büchner funnel, and a piece of filter paper)
METHODOLOGY
1. Place about 6 mL of the cooking oil into a 120 mL Erlenmeyer flask.
Page 1 of 2
Last Edit: October 2022
Malayan Colleges Laguna – Senior High School
CHM105P – GENERAL CHEMISTRY 1
2. Dissolve 15 ml of NaOH into 15 mL of ethanol (CAUTION: NaOH is very corrosive and may result
into severe burns. If the chemical encounters your skin, wash the affected area with copious amount of
water).
3. Add the NaOH solution into the 150 mL flask containing the oil, swirl the solution gently. Clamp the
flask and submerge it in a 250 mL beaker of boiling water.
4. Heat the solution for 45 minutes. (CAUTION: Be careful with the hot NaOH. Do not look into the
mouth of the flask. If splattering of the mixture occurs, remove, or lower the heat). While allowing for
the stated reaction time, prepare a salt solution of 25 g of NaCl in 150 mL of distilled water in a 250
mL beaker.
5. Place the beaker in an ice-water mixture to cool the salt solution.
6. Pour the soap solution into the cooled salt solution after the reaction time is complete (i.e., after 45
minutes) and stir for several minutes.
7. Collect the soap curds by vacuum filtration with an aspirator. To do this, collect a ring stand, a clamp,
a side-arm flask, a piece of heavy-walled rubber tubing, Büchner funnel, and a piece of filter paper.
Clamp the flask to the ring stand, and then attach one end of the tubing to the side arm and the other
end to an aspirator on one of the sinks. Put the Büchner funnel on the flask (make sure it forms a seal
you may need a rubber adapter) and the filter paper on the funnel. (The filter paper should lie flat and
should just fit the bottom of the funnel, covering all the holes – if it doesn’t, the filtration won’t work,
so get a different piece of filter paper.) Moisten the filter paper with a little deionized water from a
wash bottle.
8. Wash the solid (soap) in the funnel at least thrice with a10 mL ice-cold water each time.
9. Weigh 3 g of your soap and preserve for part B. Place the remaining soap into a paper cup to harden.
pH Test
1. Label four separate test tubes.

2. In the first tube, place 10 mL of the soap solution you made.
3. In the second tube, place 10 mL of the commercial soap solution.
4. In the third tube, place 10 mL of the detergent solution.
5. In the fourth tube, place 10 mL of deionized water (this will be the control).
6. One by one, stir each solution with a stirring rod and then touch the stirring rod to piece of pH paper.
7. Record the pH of each solution. Save these solutions for the next part.
Foam Test
1. Stopper each of the tubes and shake each one continuously for 10 seconds.
2. Observe and record the amount of suds or foam each soap solution produces.
Page 2 of 2
Last Edit: October 2022

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Malayan Colleges Laguna – Senior High School

CHM105P – GENERAL CHEMISTRY 1

Laboratory Exercise No. 4

1. Explain how soap is formed.

1. Place about 6 mL of the cooking oil into a 120 mL Erlenmeyer flask.

1. Label four separate test tubes.

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