For my final Eportfolio project I decided to make homemade soap.

Soap
making relates to our chemistry class because it consist of chemical and
physical reactions/ properties. I am going to walk us through the soap
making process and also talk about the reactions that take place.
1. First step in soap making is making sure you have all the ingredients
and safety gear. 100g Lye (sodium Hydroxide) 9.5oz H2O, 10.5oz olive
oil, 8oz coconut oil, 7oz palm oil, 3.4 TSP essential oil. You will need a
sealed container lined with a type of wax paper to put your liquid soap
in to harden. You will also want gloves and safety glasses when
handling the lye.
2. Second step you are going to take your coconut and palm oil and melt
them on the stove top. Melting the oil is a physical property ( melting
point) . The oil is going from a solid form to a liquid form.
3. For step three you will need gloves and safety glasses. You will pour
measured water into the Lye. You will stir the lye and water for at least
one minute. When the lye reacts with the water it is making a chemical
reaction. The solution gets very hot and will give off a steamy smoke
effect. There is a strong odor when this happens and you may want to
do this part of the process outside. When you add the water to your lye
it is a chemical reaction you can determine this by the smell and heat
given off.
4. Next step you will pour the olive oil in with your melted coconut and
palm oil.
5. Once you have let your lye/H2O solution and oils cool for a little you
will take temperatures of both. You want the temperature to be
somewhere between 73-90 degrees Fahrenheit. Both mixtures need to
be the same temperature.
6. Once they temperatures are the same you will slowly add the lye
solution to your oil stirring constantly for about fifteen minutes until
the mixtures begins to thicken and you will see a trace.
7. The second to last step is the fun part you can add in any essential oil,
rose pedals, herbs or colorant. This makes your soap unique.
8. Last step you will take your liquid soap mixture and slowly pour it into
your wax paper lined seal container. You will wait 24 hour for your soap
to harden and then another 24 hours before cutting your soap.
Hardness is another physical property that takes place when making
soap.

Enjoy!

I found this assignment to be fun and a good connection to what we have

learned in class over the last semester .It was interesting to witness how
physical and chemical reactions/ properties took place in the soap making
process. It also helped me get a better idea of how many reactions actually
take place in everyday products.