VanCleave 1

Titration of Monoprotic Acid

Tyler VanCleave
Partner: Cade Stierwalt
Performed: March 27th, 2014
Submitted: April 10, 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this experiment is to use the standardized

NaOH solution and configurate an unknown monoprotic acid so that an
ionization constant, and molar mass can be obtained.

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Principle: In this experiment, the region of the most rapid pH change

will be used to determine the equivalence point of the experiment. The Ka of
the experiment can be determined by using the titration curve. The formula
is; Ka= [H+][x-]\[Hx]. When doing this experiment there will come a time
when the acid has an equal amount of solution as the conjugate base. This is
called half equivalence point. This can also be expressed as, [Hx] = [x-] .
When combining the half equivalence point equation with the Ka expression
formula means that they are equal to one another. This can be expressed as,
Ka=[H+] . The titration of NaOH vs. KHP titration curve is expected to have a
curve that is increasing pH as the volume also increases. The typical features
that come with a weak acid strong base titration curve are a starting pH,
then a half equivalence point which means that the point at which pH is
equal to pKa of the acid. Then, as volume increase you will obtain a full
equivalence point on the titration curve.
Procedure: The first step that was done was to standardize a NaOH
solution. First, the weight of two grams of NaOH was to be measured. Once
that was performed using a plastic weight tray, the NaOH was then poured
into a flask that was previously filled half way full of water into a 50 mL
volumetric flask. To mix the solution with the NaOH the process of swirling
and shaking was done. After that was completed and the NaOH solution was
prepared, the pouring of that solution to the top of the flask was done. Next,
the weight of 0.4 grams of KHP was calculated using an analytical balance.
The pouring of KHP into a 250 mL beaker was also done after. Then the

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dissolving of the KHP by adding 100 ml of water was performed. Next, the
placing of the beaker and flask were conducted accordingly. After that, the
placing of a stirring bar was added. The setup was done like the one below.

After the setup was completed, the configuration of the calculator, and pH
probe was calculated. The placing of 4.0 pH, 7.0 pH, and 10.0 pH was done
to calibrate the probe. Now the tedious process of calculating the pH value
after adding increments of 0.15 of NaOH was done. The wait process of
getting to a pH value of 10 was also performed.
Next, the identifying of an unknown monoprotic acid was done. First,
the weighing of .15 grams of the unknown monoprotic acid on a weight try
was performed. Then the transferring of the unknown to a 250 mL beaker
was done. Concurring to that, 100 mL of distilled water was poured into the
beaker to dissolve the unknown monoprotic acid. Next, the preparation of the
pH probe and the calculator was done just as before. Also, the calibration of
the three solutions to the pH probe was also done, just like before. Just like
before, the adding of increments of .15 pH of NaOH titrant was done. When
the pH stabilized after every .15 increment was added, the entering of the
volume of NaOH was pushed into the calculator. The continuation of adding
NaOH was done until the pH value remained the same. The transferring of
data from the calculator to the computer was performed. This procedure was
repeated twice.

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Trial 1 pH vs. Volume NaOH

14
12
10
8
pH

6
4
2
0
0

10

15

20

Volume (mL) NaOH

25

30

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Trial 2 pH vs. Volume NaOH

14
12
10
8
pH

6
4
2
0
0

10

15

20

25

30

Volume (mL) NaOH

Monoprotic acid vs. NaOH Trial 1

14
12
10
8
pH value

6
4
2
0
0

10

12

Volume of NaOH

14

16

18

20

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Monoprotic Acid Trial 2

14
12
10
8
pH

6
4
2
0
0

10

12

14

16

18

Volume (NaOh)

Results: In this experiment, the tedious process of configurating

multiple calculations was performed. In the first page of data shows the
calculations of standardizing a NaOH solution. First calculation was done by
dividing the weight of the KHP and is molar mass. This gave the moles of
KHP. Next, the calculation of the volume of NaOH was done. I have labeled
this figure 2. Finally the molarity was calculated; figure 3. Next the
monoprotic acid calculations were performed. First, the molarity of NaOH was
calculated using the information from the graphs, and also given information;
figure 4. Next, the molar mass of the monoprotic acid was found; figure 5.

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This was done for both trials of the monoprotic acid calculations. Finally, the
average pka was calculated as well as the average molar mass of the
monoprotic acid calculations; figure 6.
Discussion: The main focal point of this experiment was to find out
what was the unknown monoprotic acid. With our calculations our data
concluded that the unknown was KHP. It had a similar molar mass, and pKa
value as our calculations showed. It wasnt exact, as though it shouldnt have
been. For the most part our results were similar to the principle of the
experiment. We were supposed to find a relatively close molar mass, and pKa
value to find out which was our unknown monoprotic acid.
Error Analysis: The main errors that were done in this experiment were
the adding of NaOH solution to each .15 increment. Sometimes there was no
way to tell when the .15 increment was used up all the way. Another problem
that we ran into was that different people in our group would read the
volume of the NaOH solution in the flask differently from other people. I am
not saying they were reading it wrong, it just some people read it different.
With those errors, that probably caused error in the making of our graphs.