Density of Soap
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| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) |
Standardized Result |
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| Shaw, Helen.Science House Student Projects. New York, NY: 2001. | "Dawn Soap Density: 0.932 g/ml" | 0.932 g/cm3 | ||||||||||
| Mass, Weight, Density or Specific Gravity of Bulk Materials. SImetric. Walker and Gibson Publishing, Ltd. |
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0.160–0.801 g/cm3 | ||||||||||
| Dhanuka; Vinodkumar Ramniranjan, et al. Process for preparing a granular detergent. US Patent 6077820. 20 June 2000. | "Indian Patent No. 170497 describes a process for preparing a high bulk density granular detergent composition with bulk density of at least 650 g/l which comprises treating a particulate starting material in a first step in a high speed mixer/densifier, the mean residence time being about 5-30 seconds and in a second step in a moderate-speed granulator/densifier whereby it is brought into or maintained in a deformable stage, the mean residence time being 1-10 minutes, and a final step in a drying and/or cooling apparatus" | 0.650 g/cm3 (powdered detergent) |
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| "We have found that granular detergents or cleaning compositions having bulk densities between 300-1300 g/l may be produced by effecting partial granulation in a high or low speed mixer granulator optionally with simultaneous heating and/or drying and/or cooling followed by completion of granulation under very low shear optionally with drying or cooling" | 0.300–1300 g/cm3 (powdered detergent) |
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| "Detergent and Soap." The World Book Encyclopedia. International Edition. 1983. | "But the word detergent usually refers to synthetic detergents, which have a different chemical makeup than soap. Its density is 0.9 g/ml" | 0.9 g/cm3 | ||||||||||
| Hilver, Chris. Bio Chem Demos. 22 May 2005. | "ivory soap (.9 g/cc) floats in H2O (1.0 g/cc) but not in ethanol (.8 g/cc)" | 0.9 g/cm3 |
Soap is an ordinary household item that is mainly used for washing dishes, scrubbing floors, doing laundry, bathing, and many other household tasks. Soap can also be used by doctors to get rid of germs in infected wounds. It comes in many different forms such as a liquid, a powder, or a bar. It also comes in different scents to suit the consumer and the task for which it is needed.
Soap is actually a base with a fat. The soap that is usually used for bathing is only varies from laundry detergent in that it has different chemical properties. A chemical property that they do have in common, however, is a surface active agents. Surfactants are molecules that stick to bits of dirt in a material. Then, the molecules hold the bits of dirt in the wash water until they are rinsed off.
The chemical composition of soap in general is what causes it to have its particular density. Density is the measure of the mass of the substance divided by its volume. Soap, particularly solid Ivory soap, has a density of 0.9 grams per cubic centimeters. Dawn liquid soap has a density of 0.932 g/cm3. From this information, you could see that the density does not significantly change as the soap varies from solid to liquid. In conclusion, this shows that soap is unlike any other substances because it is widely known that solids generally have a different density than liquids.
Virginia Allard -- 2005