TitrationLabv6b

Chemistry,Dr.Breinan

p.1

AcidBaseTitration
Titrationisalaboratorytechniquethatcanbeusedtodeterminetheconcentrationofcertain
solutionsbychemicalreaction.Astandardsolutionofknownconcentrationistitratedagainst
(reactedwith)asolutionofunknownconcentration.Anindicatorcansignalthecompletionofthe
reaction(bycolorchange)andtheconcentrationoftheunknownsolutioncanbedetermined.
Anychemicalsthatreactinsolutioncanbetitratedwitheachother.Sinceacidsandbasesare
usuallyfoundinsolution,theyarecommonlyinvolvedintitrations.Titrationsinvolvingastrong
acidorastrongbaseinvolvetheneutralizationreactionbetweenhydrogenionsandhydroxideions.
Theseionscombinetoformtheneutralwatermolecule:
H++OHH2O
Whencarryingoutanacidbasetitration,youmustbeabletorecognizewhentostopaddingthe
standardsolution.Youmuststopexactlywhenneutralizationisreached:thisistheequivalence
point.Atthispoint,thenumberofhydrogenionsaddedfromtheacidequalsthenumberof
hydroxideionsaddedfromthebase.Theindicatormentionedabovehelpsyoustopatjustthe
righttime.Asuddenchangeincoloroftheindicatorsignalsthatneutralizationhasoccurredand
youmustendthetitration.Thus,thepointofcolorchangeiscalledtheendpoint.Theindicator
mustbecarefullychosensothattheendpointcorrespondswiththeequivalencepoint.Ifthewrong
indicatorisused,thecolorchangemayoccurtooearlyortoolateandyouwillhaveaddedtoolittle
ortoomuchofthesecondchemical.Whentheendpointisreached,thevolumeoftheknownand
unknownsolutionsusedarecarefullydetermined.Thesevolumesandtheknownconcentrationof
theknownsolutioncanbeusedtocalculatetheconcentrationoftheunknownsolutionby
stoichiometry.Therearemanywaystoperformthetitrationcalculation,buttheyareallbasedon
stoichiometry.Thus,thebalancedreactionthatoccursmustbeknown!
PURPOSE:
1.TodeterminethemolarityofasolutionofNaOHbytitratingitwithaknownsolutionofHCl.
2.Toverifythemolarmassofoxalicacidbytitration.
3.Topracticesingleanddoubleburettitrations
EQUIPMENT/MATERIALS:
two50mLburets
one250mLbeaker(forrinsingandtitration)
ringstand
twoorthree100or150mLbeakers(foracid,base,andextra)
butterflyburetclamp
HCl(knownconcentration)
phenolphthalein
NaOH(unknownconcentration)
oxalicacid(partII)
**SAFETYANDLABTIPS
Acidsandbasesarecorrosiveandcancausesevereinjury.Beverycarefulwiththesechemicals.
Ifanyshouldspillonyou,beginrinsingtheaffectedareaimmediatelyandreporttheincidentto
yourinstructor.Itisespeciallyimportanttorinseyoureyesassoonaspossibleiftheycome
intocontactwithyoureyes.Alsoimmediatelyreportspillstoyourinstructor.Theymayneed
tobeneutralizedandcleanedupwithspillpillows.
Alwaysbesureyourburetstopcocksareclosedbeforepouringinanyacidorbase.
Alwaysuseasmallbeakerorgraduatedcylindertopouracidorbaseintoaburet.

TitrationLabv6b

Chemistry,Dr.Breinan

p.2

Carefulcontroloftheburetstopcockiscriticaltoefficientandaccuratetitration.
PRELAB
1.WritetheequationfortheneutralizationreactionbetweenNaOHandHCl.
2.Whatisthechemicalformulaofoxalicacid?Calculateitsmolarmass.
3.Whenperformingtitrations,whyshouldthebeakerbeconstantlyswirled?
4.Whyisitgoodtoperformatitration3or4times?
5.HowwillyouknowwhentheHClhasbeenneutralizedinpart1?
6.Whatisthedifferencebetweentheendpointandtheequivalencepoint?Howaretheyrelatedtothe
indicator?
7.Describethesafetyproceduretobeusedintheeventthatacidspillsonyouoronthelabcounteroron
thefloor.

PROCEDURE,PART1.DoubleburettitrationunknownNaOH.
1.Obtaintwoburets,abutterflyburetclamp,andringstandandsetupintheappropriatefashion.
(Seefigure,thispage)Oneburetisforacidandoneforbase.Fillyour2smallbeakerswith60
65mLofacidorbase.Besuretorecordtheknownconcentrationoftheacid!
2.Cleanoutbothburetsbyfillingwithtapwaterfromabeakeranddrainingitallout.Makesure
thestopcockworksatthistime.
3.Rinsetheacidburetbyaddingabout510mLofHClsolutionandswirlwhileslowlyemptying
theburet(fromthelargeopening).
4.Rinsethebaseburetbyaddingabout510mLofNaOHsolution
andswirlwhileslowlyemptyingtheburet(fromthelarge
opening).
5.AddHClsolutiontoyouracidburettoaboutthe0mLmarkor
above.Usingthestopcock,drawoffliquiduntilairbubblesare
goneandthelevel(bottomofthemeniscus)isjustbelowthe0mL
marking.Takeyourinitialreading.Recordinyourdatatable.
6.AddNaOHsolutiontoyourbaseburettoaboutthe0mLmarkor
above.Usingthestopcock,drawoffliquiduntilairbubblesare
goneandthelevel(bottomofthemeniscus)isjustbelowthe0mL
marking.Thisisyourinitialreading.Recordinyourdatatable.
7.Obtaina250mLbeakertoperformthetitration.Addtothis
approximately1015mLofHClfromtheacidburet.Nowaddoneortwodropsof
phenolphthaleinsolution.
8.FromyourbaseburetaddNaOHandgentlyswirlthebeakersothesolutionwillmix.Continue
toaddtheNaOHuntilaverypalepinkcolorlaststhroughoutthesolutionforaperiodof15
seconds.Tofindtheendpoint,backtitratebyaddingacidonedropatatimeuntilonedropof
acidremovesthepink.Atthispoint,aboutonedropeitherwayshouldchangethecolor.Now
takeyourfinalburetreadings(bothburets!).Discardtheneutralizedsolutioninyoursink.
9.Firsttrialonly:subtractyourinitialandfinalreadingsandhaveyourteachercheckyourresultto
makesureyouareintheballpark.
10.Withoutrefillingyourburets,takeyournewinitialreadingsandrepeatprocedures7&8for
threemoretimes.Ifyoudonotdisturbyourburetsafteronetrial,yourfinalreadingsforthat
trialwillbethesameastheinitialreadingsonthenexttrial.

TitrationLabv6b

Chemistry,Dr.Breinan

p.3

11.IfcontinuingontopartII,saveyourbase,butdisposeofyouracidinthewastecontainer.If
notdoingpart2,placealluntitratedsolutionsinwastecontainers,rinseandbrushallequipment
andcleanyourarea.
allunitsmL

Trial1
HCl
NaOH

Trial2
HCl
NaOH

Trial3
HCl
NaOH

Trial4
HCl
NaOH

initial
reading
finalreading
volumeused
knownconcentrationofacid:____________
LABPROCEDUREPART2:Singleburettitration.
1.Keepthesamebaseburetfrompart1.Ifyouhaveatleast15mLofbasegoontostep2.Ifyou
havelessthan15mL,addsomemorebasetotheburet.
2.Massoutbetween0.2and0.25gramofoxalicacid,H2C2O4.Recordtheexactmassofacidused.
3.Dissolvetheacidinapproximately50mLofwater.Oncedissolved,carefullymeasurethe
volumeoftheacidsolution.
4.PlacealloftheacidsolutioninabeakerorErlenmeyerfortitration.
5.Nowtitratetheacidwiththebase.UsetheskillsyoudevelopedinPart1ofthislab.Youmust
alsobeverycarefulbecauseyouhavenoacidburettobacktitrate.
6.Placealluntitratedacidorbasesolutionsinwastecontainers,rinseandbrushallequipment,and
cleanyourarea.
Buretreadings
initial

(NaOH)
final

volumeused

ifgivenknownconcentrationofbase:____________
massofoxalicacidused:___________volumeofoxalicacidsolution:______________

PROCESSING:(completeonaseparatesheet)
Part1:
1.Determinethemolarityofthebaseineachtrialandcalculatetheaveragemolarityofthebase.
(Showcalculationsclearlyatleastonce).Seeprocessinghintsattheendofthehandout.
Part2:
2.Usingthemolarityofyourbase(usethevaluegivenbyyourteacherifavailable,ifnotuseyour
answerfromprocessingpart1),determinethemolarityoftheacidsolutionyoumadethrough
titrationcalculation.Donotusethemolarmassofoxalicacid!
3.Themolarmassoftheacidcanbecalculatedbydividingthemeasuredmassofacidbythemoles
thatwerecalculatedaspartofthepreviousquestion.Calculatethemolarmassoftheoxalic
acid.

TitrationLabv6b

Chemistry,Dr.Breinan

p.4

4.Theacceptedvalueforthemolarmassofoxalicacidisactually126.1g/mol.Calculateyour
percenterror.

ADDITIONALQUESTIONS:
1.Whichsolutionofknownconcentrationwouldyouusewhentitratingagainstasolutionof
vinegar:acidorbase?Why?(Hint:whatisvinegar?)
2.HowwouldyourfinalresultfortheconcentrationofthebaseinpartIhavedifferedifyoudidthe
experimentwithH2SO4(astrongdiproticacid)insteadofHCl?Explain.
3.If30.0mLof0.500MKOHareneededtoneutralize10.0mLofHClofunknownconcentration,
whatisthemolarityoftheHCl?
4.HowmanymLof0.100MNaOHareneededtotitrate20.0mLof0.100MH2SO4?Usea
balancedequationfortheneutralizationreactionandexplainyourcalculations.
Extracredit:
1)Assumeyoucalculatedthemolarityofthesodiumhydroxidesolutionjustasyoudidinthelab,
butyoumadethefollowingerrorsintheexperiment.Explainclearlywhateachofthefollowing
wouldmeanaboutthemolarityofNaOHcalculatedinpart1comparedtothetruevalue.Are
yourcalculationstoohigh,toolow,orunaffected?
a.theactualconcentrationofHClwaslowerthanstated
b.Youspilledadropofbaseduringtitration(itwasntcollectedinthetitrationflask).
c.Extrawaterwasleftintheacidburetbeforeyouaddedtheacid.
d.Anairbubblewasinitiallypresentinthebaseburetandescapedduringthetitration.
2)Describetheideaofhydratesandwaterofcrystallizationanduseittoexplainwhythegiven
molarmassofoxalicaciddoesnotmatchyourprelabvalue.Asalways,citeyoursources!

Processingguidefortitrations:
Sampledata:
Volumeof0.40MCa(OH)2used:26.8mL
VolumeofunknownHNO3used:37.2mL
Overview:Theconcentrationoftheunknownismeasuredinmolars:Molarity=mol(HNO3)

LHNO3solution
WeneedtopluginthemolesofacidandLofacidsolution.
1)ThevolumeofacidsolutionisalreadygiveninthedataasmL.JustchangetoL:
37.2mL=0.0372LHNO3solution
2)Usestoichiometrytofindtheunknown(molesofacid)fromtheamountofknown(base)reacted:
Balancedequation:Ca(OH) 2+2HNO32H2O+Ca(NO3)2

amountofknownmolarityofmoleratio
given(inL)basefromequation

0.0268 L Ca(OH) 2

2 mol HNO 3
0.40 mol Ca(OH) 2

0.214mol HNO 3
1 L Ca(OH) 2
1 mol Ca(OH) 2

TitrationLabv6b

Chemistry,Dr.Breinan

Moleit

ratioitdone!

3)Putitalltogether:Molarity=mol(HNO3)=0.214mol=5.76M

LHNO3solution0.0372L

p.5