Explain how soaps and detergents are able to clean spills and stains.
Soap is a sodium salt oh higher fatty acids and represented as RCOONa. When it dissolved in water it dissociates to RCOO- and Na+ ions. The RCOO- ions consist of two parts, non polar long hydrocarbon chain R, which is called the tail and and the polar COO- part, called the head. The tail part is hydrophobic or water repelling and the head part is hydrophilic or water loving. Therefore the RCOO- ions present on the surface with their COO- group in water and the hydrocarbon chains R staying away from it and remain at the surface.
However in higher concentration the hydrophilic part form a spherical shape with their hydrocarbon chain and pointing towards the center and the other polar part outwards on the surface of the sphere. Thun an aggregate formed is known as micelle.
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