Question

Soaps consist of compounds such as sodium palmitate, CH3(CH2)14COO–Na+, that have both hydrophobic and hydrophilic parts. Consider the hydrocarbon part of sodium palmitate to be the "tail" and the charged part to be the "head."

Part A:

Which part of sodium palmitate, head or tail, is more likely to be solvated by water?

Part B:

Grease is a complex mixture of (mostly) hydrophobic compounds. Which part of sodium palmitate, head or tail, is most likely to bind to grease?

Part C:

If you have large deposits of grease that you want to wash away with water, you can see that adding sodium palmitate will help you produce an emulsion. What intermolecular interactions are responsible for this?

Match the words in the left column to the appropriate blanks in the sentences on the right.

dispersion forces	hydrocarbon head
charged −COO− tail	hydrocarbon tail
charged −COO− head	hydrogen bonding

The __________ will experience ion-dipole, dipole-dipole, and hydrogen bonding interactions with water. The _____________ of sodium palmitate will experience ______________ with hydrophobic grease.