Re: pinhole Practical Lab Questions

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From: NFetter@aol.com
Date: Sun Dec 26 2004 - 17:27:37 PST 

From: NFetter@aol.com
Message-ID: <97.558ec217.2f00bf09@aol.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Dec 2004 20:27:37 EST
Subject: Re: pinhole Practical Lab Questions

Hi Dylan,
To make soap, you need hydroxide ions, (OH-), but the cation that goes with
is irrelevant. Soduim hydroxide (NaOH) makes 'hard' soap and potassium
hydroxide (KOH) makes 'soft'soap. Whatever concentration of NaOH you use, remember it
is a dangerous chemical that can cause severe skin burns and blindness if the
soution gets in your eye. Soft soap has been made for many centuries using
animal fat and wood ash. The latter contains small amounts of KOH. It appears
that the OH- ion concentration does not have to be very high if you are willing
to cook long enough. The salt (NaCl) is added to harden the soap by replacing
the OH ions with chloride ions (Cl-).
Neil Fetter

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