What is the specific purpose of using potassium hydroxide during the saponification process?
- A.To obtain soaps which are hard on the skin
- B.To obtain soaps which are soft on the skin
- C.To obtain natural fragrance
- D.To make the saponification very economical
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, To obtain soaps which are soft on the skin. Potassium hydroxide gives potassium soaps, which are softer and milder than sodium soaps. Saponification is the reaction in which an oil or fat is heated with an alkali to give soap, the sodium or potassium salt of a long-chain fatty acid, and glycerol. When sodium hydroxide is used, the product is a hard sodium soap, used for laundry and ordinary bathing bars. When potassium hydroxide is used, the product is a soft potassium soap that dissolves easily and is gentle on the skin, so it goes into toilet soaps, liquid soaps, shaving creams and shampoos. Option A is wrong because hard soaps come from sodium hydroxide, not potassium hydroxide. Option C is wrong because fragrance comes from perfumes added later, not from the alkali. Option D is wrong because potassium hydroxide is in fact costlier than sodium hydroxide, so it is not chosen to save money. Exam tip: NaOH gives hard soap; KOH gives soft soap.
Practice Questions
View allThe fact that the planets move around the Sun, not in circles but in ellipses, was first demonstrated by
- A.Galileo
- B.Martin Luther
- C.Johannes Kepler
- D.Copernicus
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In 1609 Kepler showed that the planets move around the Sun in elliptical orbits, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements is correct?
- A.Urea is produced in liver.
- B.Urea is produced in blood.
- C.Urea is produced from digestion of starch.
- D.Urea is produced in lung and kidney.
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Liver cells turn the toxic ammonia released from the breakdown of amino acids into urea through the ornithine cycle, also called the urea cycle.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is the correct sequence of passage of light in a compound microscope?
- A.Condenser-Objective lens-Eyepiece-Body tube
- B.Objective lens-Condenser-Body tube-Eyepiece
- C.Condenser-Objective lens-Body tube-Eyepiece
- D.Eyepiece-Objective lens-Body tube-Mirror
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Light passes through the condenser to the specimen, is picked up by the objective lens, travels up the body tube and reaches the eye through the eyepiece.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements regarding haemoglobin is correct?
- A.Haemoglobin present in RBC can carry only oxygen but not carbon dioxide.
- B.Haemoglobin of RBC can carry both oxygen and carbon dioxide.
- C.Haemoglobin of RBC can carry only carbon dioxide.
- D.Haemoglobin is only used for blood clotting and not for carrying gases.
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It binds oxygen at its iron-containing haem groups and carries some carbon dioxide on its protein chains. Each haemoglobin molecule has four polypeptide chains and four haem groups, and each haem iron can hold one oxygen molecule, forming oxyhaemoglobin in the lungs.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements regarding histone proteins is correct?
- A.Histones are proteins that are present in mitochondrial membrane.
- B.Histones are proteins that are present in nucleus in association with DNA.
- C.Histones are proteins associated with lipids in the cytosol.
- D.Histones are proteins associated with carbohydrates in the cytosol.
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They are the proteins around which DNA winds to form chromatin in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. Histones are small basic proteins, rich in the positively charged amino acids lysine and arginine, which attract the negatively charged phosphate groups of DNA.
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