What are soap? give definition as well formula?

In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.Soaps are mainly used as surfactants for washing, bathing, and cleaning, but they are also used in textile spinning and are important components of lubricants.

One original formula for soap is C₁₇H₃₅COONa, or sodium stearate, which would usually consist of wood ashes and animal fat. The wood ashes were responsible for providing the potassium carbonate and sodium while the animal fat component provides the triglycerides.The basic structure of all soaps is essentially the same, consisting of a long hydrophobic (water-fearing) hydrocarbon "tail" and a hydrophilic (waterloving) anionic "head":

CH 3 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 COO − or CH 3 (CH 2 ) n COO −

http://www.chemistryexplained.com/Ru-Sp/Soap.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap

http://www.ask.com/science/chemical-formula-soap-5e584c6196f0f88b