Question

Soaps are made from ______(from hogs), ________ (from cows or sheep), _______ oil, or ________ oil.

a) Canola, soybean, sunflower, olive
b) Lard, tallow, palm, coconut
c) Corn, peanut, sesame, flaxseed
d) Butter, ghee, avocado, fish

Answer 1

Soaps are produced by saponifying fats like lard and tallow along with palm oil and coconut oil, which are then treated with a strong base to create soap molecules.

Step-by-step explanation:

Soaps are made from a variety of fats and oils through a process called saponification. The correct ingredients used in soap making, originating from animal sources and plant oils, are lard (from hogs), tallow (from cows or sheep), palm oil, and coconut oil. These raw materials contain triglycerides that, upon reaction with a strong base such as sodium hydroxide, form the sodium salts of fatty acids, which are the soap molecules. The traditional process involved boiling these fats with a base, and later, salt (sodium chloride) was added to precipitate the soap, which was then washed and purified. Modern soap making sometimes involves using other types of fats and oils such as those from coconut, but the essential chemistry remains the same.