Reacting with a strong Arrhenius base, carboxylic acids form carboxylate salts called soaps. Soaps are amphipathic, mean that they are chemical compounds possessing both hydrophilic and hydrophobic nature. The carboxylate group end of a soap is hydrophilie, while the fatty acid chain end is hydrophobic. Above a critical concentration, long, straight chain carboxylate salts form a colloidal dispersion of spherical aggregates in water with the hydrophilic carboxylate groups on the outside and the lipophilic hydrocarbon chains toward the interior.
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