Girs and Boys Day
The Girls' and Boys' Day for career and study orientation takes place every year and the University of Magdeburg also opens its faculties, lecture halls and laboratories to show prospective students the diverse career opportunities at the university. This year, 6 schoolgirls from different schools in Magdeburg visited our laboratory to learn about working in the lab while boiling soap. After a general introduction to our Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg and a short introduction to the everyday life of a scientific employee, the students were allowed to get hands-on experience in our lab.
Soap boiling starts with the production of a mixture of different oils and hard fats. A sodium hydroxide solution is then used to saponify the fat mixture, one the fat mixture is heated to a desired temperature.
After successful chemical reactions, which produced the raw soap, the girls selected color and fragrance, both were mixed into the raw soap. After that, the final product could be filled into soap molds. The final product has to age for 4 - 6 weeks, until it is fully hardened and safe to use. Once this aging period has passed, we will send our young visitors the soap sample home.