Soaps are sodium or potassium salts of higher fatty acids such as lauric acid (C11H23COOH), palmitic acid (C15H31COOH), stearic acid (C17H35COOH), oleic acid (C17H33COOH) or linoleic acid (C17H31COOH).
Soaps are formed by heating fat or oil (i.e., glyceryl esters of fatty acids) with aqueous sodium hydroxide solution. This reaction is called saponification.
Types of Soaps :
By using different raw materials, different types of soaps are made. Some examples of different types of soaps are toilet soaps, transparent soaps, medicated soaps, shaving soaps, laundry soaps and floating soaps.
