Stearic acid is a usually a most common chemical, used in process industries , and it is quite expensive too. So a chemical engineer can try to prepare stearic acid at a very cheap cost. Just buy a natural soap bar ( try to get the most cheapest among all), this reaction will only work with the natural soap bar, so try to do the reaction on a little piece of soap initially. Dissolve the natural soap bar in hot water completely, and add food vinegar (but the food vinegar is needed in higher volume, so you can add any other acid , having PH less then 6). The stearic acid will precipitate as a layer of impurities on the surface of the mixture(scum). When the scum settles down, then filter it, and drain the remaining liquor.
The best part of this reaction is that you will get the maximum quantity of stearic acid , i.e for every 100 gm of soap, you will get around 80 gm of stearic acid.
The best part of this reaction is that you will get the maximum quantity of stearic acid , i.e for every 100 gm of soap, you will get around 80 gm of stearic acid.
