Question

Water alone does not easily remove grease from dishes or hands because grease is nonpolar and water is polar. the addition of soap to water, however, allows the grease to dissolve. study the structure of sodium stearate (a soap) and describe how its structure allows it to interact with both nonpolar grease and polar water.

Answer 1

Sodium stearate is a two-type water-interaction molecule. Sodium stearate is a compound made of a hydrophilic head, the carboxylate, and a hydrophobic tail, the long hydrocarbon chain. Because of these two parts of the molecule, a few of them together, form structures called micelles, which have the hydrophilic head to the outside and the hydrophobic tail to the inside creating a lipophilic environment inside of them for hydrophobic compounds. This way, these molecules enclosure the grease and allows it to be spread in the water.