[Iambic]

Hi guys.
I have just finished sitting my final exam for chemistry (under the Western Australian TEE system), and there were a few questions which I was completely unsure about, and although I've done a bit of research, I can't seem to find an answer.

One of the questions was about Hydrochloric acid preparation, the question was "Why is HCl produced by bubbling Hydrogen Chloride gas through small droplets of water rather than just bubbling it through a container of water?". I thought it was to do with getting a more concentrated solution (although I couldn't justify myself) and others said something about exothermic reactions.

Another question was about soaps: it was in the multi choice section. The question stated: "Soaps are: a) Acids; b) Carbohydrates; c) Esters of glycerol; d) Salts". I chose d) salts, but again I had no idea about the answer and nor did my friends. Some said ester of gylcerol because of the saponification reaction, others said acids because they thought it was a carboxylic acid (I'm pretty sure thats wrong though), and others said carbohydrates simply because they had no idea what it was (Carbohydrates aren't on the year 12 syllabus).

[Sev]

Another question was about soaps: it was in the multi choice section. The question stated: "Soaps are: a) Acids; b) Carbohydrates; c) Esters of glycerol; d) Salts". I chose d) salts, but again I had no idea about the answer and nor did my friends. Some said ester of gylcerol because of the saponification reaction, others said acids because they thought it was a carboxylic acid (I'm pretty sure thats wrong though), and others said carbohydrates simply because they had no idea what it was (Carbohydrates aren't on the year 12 syllabus).

You guessed right  .  Soaps are salts (carboxylate salts I believe) with long fatty acid chains.

[Iambic]

Oh wicked Does anyone have any idea about the HCl preparation?

[ARGOS++]

Dear Iambic,

If I translate correctly (Sorry I think mostly in Swiss German) I'm pretty sure I know the reason why.

You have to remember, that HCl Gas is !extremely! hygroscopic and that is generating several problems if you bubble the gas directly through a tube into a big amount of water.
In case you use the tube you can watch the bubbles how they !implode! with fibrations, and if you are not able to hold the pressure high enough the tube will be filled up and the water flows back to the generator or fills also the cylinder!!
So it is much easer to circulate the water and let it rain through the “cloud” of HCl Gas.

Could this be an acceptable answer?

Good Luck!
                    ARGOS⁺⁺

P.S.: I remember the “HCl- Fountain” Experiment very well.