Respuesta :
Answer:
Water alone can't clean clothes because it won't attach to molecules of grease and dirt.
Explanation:
The surfactants it contains are made of molecules that have two different ends. One end is strongly attracted to water; the other is attracted to oily substances like grease.
The surfactants present in the soap reduces the surface tension of the water molecules, this helps water to spread equally over the clothes and clean them.
Soaps and their properties:
With the help of animal oils, strong alkali solutions, and fats, soaps are obtained. These are the sodium or potassium fatty acid salts produced by the hydrolysis of fats via the process known as saponification.
The sticking of the water molecules with each other takes place due to the surface tension of water. This is the reason that droplets of water are spherical in shape. However, in order to wet the clothes uniformly, there is a need to reduce the surface tension of water.
For this soaps are used, as soaps comprises surfactants in substantial concentrations, which assist the water molecules to disperse evenly over the clothes. On seeing the chemical structure of a soap, it can be seen that the head of the soap molecule is hydrophilic, which possess strong affinity towards the water molecules.
On the other hand, the tail is hydrophobic, which tries to stay away from the molecules of water. These two different parts of soap exhibits a contrasting disposition towards the molecules of water, due to this, soaps are effective for clothes washing.
Thus, soaps helps in dispersing the molecules of water evenly over the clothes, and make it easier to clean them.
Find out more information about soaps and their properties here:
https://brainly.com/question/26060264
