Open AccessThe composition of soap films
Publication year - 1925
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series a, containing papers of a mathematical and physical character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9150
pISSN - 0950-1207
DOI - 10.1098/rspa.1925.0105
Subject(s) - soap film , hydrolysis , oleic acid , soap , sodium , soap bubble , composition (language) , potassium , chemistry , materials science , organic chemistry , mathematics , optics , physics , computer science , biochemistry , art , geometry , world wide web , literature
In a recent article on “The Investigation of Properties of Thin Films by X-rays,” Sir William Bragg discusses the nature and composition of soap films and the black spots that form therein, He proceeded from the assumption that “the ordinary thick film is bounded on one side by a molecular film of oleic acid,'' such acid being formed by the “hydrolysis of the sodium or potassium oleate in solution.” The brief experimental investigation outlined below, carried out with solutions of sodium oleate whose degree of hydrolysis is known, shows that free oleic acid does not exist in soap films, but sodium soap is stored in the surface of a soap solution or soap bubble.