Question

The cleaning action of soap is due to the formation of ___ in water.

Answer 1

The cleaning action of soap is due to the formation of micelles in water.
Micelles are emulsions formed by the soap molecules in water. The spherical shape of the micelle is due to the hydrophobic and hydrophilic nature of soap molecules. The hydrophobic end attaches to the oil/grease and pulls it away from the cloth. Since it repels water, they are arranged such that the dirt molecule is at the centre with hydrophobic ends attached to it and the hydrophilic ends face the water and get washed away along with water.