CHEM 208 Study Guide - Final Guide: Zinc Oxide, Covalent Bond, Sunburn
10 Apr 2015
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Document Summary
Soaps and detergents play a very important role in our lives. These chemicals help us in making our surroundings cleaner (i. e. , by removing soils and grease), healthier (i. e. , by reducing the germs), and pleasant. In order to make it more effective in the process of cleaning, the water must be made to spread and thus wet surfaces effectively, i. e. , its surface tension must be reduced. This is achieved by using compounds called surfactants. Surfactants are composed of a hydrophilic (water-soluble) head and a hydrophobic (fat-soluble, water-hating) tail. The hydrophilic end is stable when solubilized in water and the hydrophobic end consists of a long chain hydrocarbon that is more stable when surrounded by other organic groups. Soaps (anionic surfactants) consist of the long hydrocarbon tails of fatty acids and the polar heads of sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids (found in fats and oils of animals and plants).
