Purpose, Discussion, and Conclusion

Purpose:
To determine which liquid material is most efficient at emulsifying/physically breaking down large pieces of fat into smaller droplets.

Discussion:
Baking Soda is the most efficient emulsifier out of the six variables I tested with.
The reason why baking soda worked best could be explained from the process of soap making or saponification. Soap is a surfactant that consists of both polar and non-polar ends—amphipathic, which means it can dissolve in both water (polar) and oil (non-polar). Soap is made through a hydolysis process in which an alkali (base) reacts with a fat or oil—saponification. The alkali breaks the ester bond (fats are triglycerides which consist of a special type of bonds – ester bonds) and simplifies the complex fat into fatty acids and glycerine. The reaction between baking soda and the canola oil are very much the same as the reaction mentioned above. The baking soda (alkaline - NaHCO3) and oil (CH3(CH2)16COOH) are mixed together, thus forming a soap.

Conclusion:
My hypothesis stated that liquid substances that are chemically similar to bile/bile acid will dissolve/break down fat best. Bile is amphipathic, which means a substance consisting of both polar and non-polar components would emulsify fat. Through the experiments, my results proved that none of the tested edible substances that are amphipathic worked significantly to emulsify the fat. However, an alkaline liquid (baking soda) demonstrated considerable fat emulsification or conversion of fat to a different substance.