If carbonate is also present in the soap, another 5 grams of soap is dissolved in 100 cubic centimeters of 50 per cent. alcohol and the solution titrated directly after cooling with N/40 stearic acid, using [Greek: alpha] naphtholphthalein or phenolphthalein as an indicator, without the addition of barium chloride. From the difference of the two titrations the alkali present as carbonate is determined.
If the decomposed soap solution is colorless with phenolphthalein, free fatty acids are present, which may be quickly determined with alcoholic N/10 sodium hydroxide.
The insoluble matter in soap may consist of organic or inorganic substances. Among the organic substances which are usually present in soap are oat meal, bran, sawdust, etc., while among the common inorganic or mineral compounds are pumice, silex, clay, talc, zinc oxide, infusorial earth, sand or other material used as fillers.
To determine insoluble matter, 5 grams of soap are dissolved in 75 cubic centimeters of hot water. The solution is filtered through a weighed gooch crucible or filter paper. The residue remaining on the filter is washed with hot water until all the soap is removed, is then dried to constant weight at 105 degrees C. and weighed. From the difference in weight of the gooch or filter paper and the dried residue remaining thereon after filtering and drying, the total percentage of insoluble matter may easily be calculated. By igniting the residue and reweighing the amount of insoluble mineral matter can be readily determined.
Should starch or gelatine be present in soap it is necessary to extract 5 grams of the soap with 100 cubic centimeters of 95 per cent. neutralized alcohol in a Soxhlet extractor until the residue on the extraction thimble is in a powder form. If necessary the apparatus should be disconnected and any lumps crushed, as these may contain soap. The residue remaining on the thimble consists of all substances present in soap, insoluble in alcohol. This is dried and weighed so that any percentage of impurities not actually determined can be found by difference. Starch and gelatine are separated from carbonate, sulfate and borate by dissolving the latter out through a filter with cold water. The starch and gelatine thus remaining can be determined by known methods, starch by the method of direct hydrolysis[15] and gelatine by Kjeldahling and calculating the corresponding amount of gelatine from the percentage of nitrogen (17.9%) therein.[16]