CHEMICAL DEMONSTRATION PRO

'SOFT WATER AND SUDS

NAME: Lida Naderi- Abasi
Date: 07,29,2011
Class: SCH 4CO
Introduction:
1)What we are going to be doing today is learning about what is hard water and soIt water.
2) How they aIIect washing dishes and how clean can our dishes can get by using soIt or hard
water.
3)Mix the solution and see what we can see.
4)Muny peopIe Iuve wuLer soILeners In LIeIr Iouses. WIuL Is LIe purpose oI u wuLer
soILener?
5) WIuL does IL meun Lo Iuve "Iurd" wuLer?

Materials:
500 milliliters (2 cups) distilled water
5 milliliters (1 teaspoon) epsom salts
2 empty and cleaned 2-liter plastic soIt-drink containers, with screw caps
several drops oI liquid dishwashing detergent (349 the kind Ior automatic dishwashers)
How to mix the materials:
Pour 250 milliliters (1 cup) oI distilled water into each oI the empty soIt-drink bottles. Add 5
milliliters (1 teaspoon) oI Epsom salts to 430 oI the bottles. Swirl the bottle until the Epsom salts
dissolve. Add several drops oI liquid dish detergent to both bottles. Seal the bottles with their
caps. Shake both bottles. A large amount oI suds will Iorm in the bottle without Epsom salts. Far
Iewer suds will Iorm in the bottle containing the Epsom salts.
Science concept:
Tap water in many parts oI the country contains minerals that can interIere with the cleaning
ability oI soap or dishwashing detergent. They do this by combining with soap or detergent and
Iorming a scum that does not dissolve in water. Because they react with soap and detergent, they
remove the soap and detergent, thereby reducing the eIIectiveness oI these cleaning agents.
Non-chemistry explanation:
Water can be soItened in a number oI ways. An automatic water soItener connected to water
supply pipes removes magnesium and calcium Irom water and replaces them with sodium.
Sodium does not react with soap or detergents. II you don't have an automatic water soItener,
you can still soIten laundry water by adding soIteners directly to the wash water. These soIteners
combine with calcium and magnesium, preventing the minerals Irom Iorming a soap scum
The materials that I am using here today can be Iound mostly in your homes, grocery stores.
The water soItener can be Iound in Home Depot, Lowes, and Wal Mart.
ScientiIic explanation:
The suds Iormed in this experiment are made oI tiny bubbles. The bubbles are Iormed when air
is trapped in a Iilm oI liquid. The air is trapped when it is shaken into the water. The Iilm oI
liquid surrounding each bubble is a mixture oI water and detergent. The molecules oI detergent
Iorm a sort oI Iramework that holds the water molecules in place in the Iilm. II there were no
detergent, the bubbles would collapse almost as soon as they are Iormed. You can see what this
would look like by repeating the experiment, but leaving out the detergent.
The minerals that make water hard usually contain calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg). In this
experiment, you made water hard by adding Epsom salt, which is magnesium Sulphate (MgSO4).
Calcium and magnesium in water interIere with the cleaning action oI soap and detergent. They
do this by combining with soap or detergent and Iorming a scum that does not dissolve in water.
They react with soap and detergent and remove the soap and/or detergent, there Ior reducing the
eIIectiveness oI these cleaning agents.

Calcium Magnesium in water
Ca Mg in H2O
Beth Cristal ~ Epsom (Magnesium SulIat MgSO4)

Other sites that u can Iind experiments like this would be
www.about.com (http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryactivities/a/densitycolumn.htm)