Acid Base Lab Report
Acid Base Lab Report
Acid Base Lab Report
Titration Lab
19 January 2018
Group Members:
The objective of this lab is to learn how to determine the concentration of unknown
hydrochloric acid (HCl) by titrating sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which has a concentration of 0.1 M.
The titration begin with the titrant being carefully delivered from a burette into the HCl until the end
point is reached or until the color of solution changes. In this lab, two indicators, Phenolphthalein and
Bromophenol blue, are used to demonstrate the endpoint. If phenolphthalein is being used as an
indicator, then the solution will change to light pink, but if bromophenol blue is used, then the
solution will turn into blue. Performing rough titration before conducting the actual titration helps
facilitating the process and result in accurate performance. This lab also demonstrate how amount of
NaOH can used to calculate mol of HCl, its concentration, and pH. From the experiment, for beaker
with phenolphthalein, 5.09 mL of NaOH is added to reach the endpoint, and the result concentration
and pH are 5.09 x 10−2 M and 1.29 respectively. For beaker with Bromophenol blue, 4.9 mL of
NaOH is added, and concentration and pH are 4.9 x 10−2 M and 1.31 respectively. The concentration
of HCl in both beakers of two indicators is close to each other, although there’s 1.9 x 10−3 M
difference. The reason for the difference is too much NaOH is added in Phenolphthalein beaker after
the endpoint is reached.
Introduction
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you heard of chemistry. The idea of
chemical solution, acids and bases might be floating into your mind. You might think that chemistry
and those sorts of chemicals can only be found in the laboratory and are no way related to a person’s
daily life. In fact, that is totally wrong. Chemistry is all around and actually relative to us. Everything
is made up of chemical ranging from the microscopic cell in your body to the largest thing you can
think of. Human, animals, plants and even food are all composed of chemical. Without any awareness,
we are almost always in contact with acid and basic chemicals everyday. From the food that is being
eaten such as vinegar, which contain acetic acid, or by using cleaning products such as soap, that
composed of basic solution. Acids and bases are even closer to you than you realized, they can also be
found within our body, playing many crucial role, such as in digestion. Acids and bases play a
fundamental role in chemistry. According to the definition in most dictionaries, acid is a chemical
substance with a pH value of less than 7 and Base is the opposite of an acid and has a pH of 7 to 14.
These definitions are what’s known to most people. However, in chemistry and bases have been
characterized diversely by three arrangements of theories. Arrhenius, the Swedish chemist, proposed
that acid is any species that increases the H+ ions or protons concentration in aqueous solution. In
other words, it means that acid is able to yield or produce H+ ion as well as H3O+ when dissolved in
water. HCI, hydrochloric acid as an example, HCl(aq) → H+(aq) + Cl-(aq). When hydrochloric
dissolves in water, it dissociates into H+ ion and Cl- ions, increasing the concentration of H+ ion in the
solution. In contrast to acid, Arrhenius defined base as any species that increases the concentration of
hydroxide ions, OH-, in aqueous solution. This means that base is capable of producing OH- when
dissolved in water. For instance, NaOH, sodium hydroxide, NaOH(aq) → Na+(aq) + OH-(aq). In
water, sodium hydroxide dissociates, forming OH- and Na+ ions, adding the concentration of OH- to
the solution. However, there is a limitation to Arrhenius’ theory, because it is only accounted for acid
and base in aqueous solution (Arrhenius acids and bases, n.d.).
The second theory is independently came up in 1923 by Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted and Thomas
Martin Lowry. It is derived from the previous theory of Arrhenius. The main principle of this concept
is that acid is a proton (H+) donor. On the other hand, base is a proton (H+) acceptor. The conjugate
base of a Bronsted-Lowry acid is formed after it donates a proton. However, the conjugate base is
formed after it accepts a proton. The two species in a conjugate acid-base pair have the same
molecular formula aside from the acid which contain an additional extra H+ contrasted with the
conjugate base (Brønsted-Lowry acid base theory, n.d.). For an example, H2SO4 + H2O → HSO4- +
H3O-. In this equation, H2SO4 which
is sulfuric acid is obviously an acid as it donates proton (H+) to
water (H2O). It then becomes hydrogen sulfite ion (HSO4-) which is the conjugate base of sulfuric acid
(Matt, 2014).
The last theory of acid and base is carried out by Gilbert N. Lewis. While the Bronsted-Lowry
theory heavily relies on the exchange protons, Lewis' theory focuses on the exchange of electrons. He
suggested that acid is an electron pair acceptor and base is an electron pair donor. For instance, H+ +
OH- → H2O.
The oxygen atom in the hydroxide ion has three unbonded electron pairs around it, and during the
reaction one of those electron pairs is donated to the hydrogen ion, forming a chemical bond. Hence,
OH- is the electron pair donor and is Lewis base, whereas H+ is the electron pair acceptor and,
therefore, the Lewis acid (Acids and Bases - Lewis Definition Of Acids And Bases, n.d.).
So now after we’ve already known what actually is acid and base. In which way can we
identify if the solution is acidic or basic. Recalling from Arrhenius’ definition of acid, such that it is
any substance that produces hydrogen ion (H+) in aqueous solution. Due to this reason, when an acid
is being dissolved in water, the concentration between hydrogen ion and hydroxide ion is fluctuated.
In this case, there is higher amount of hydrogen ion presented in the solution than hydroxide ion.
When this occurs, the solution is considered to be acidic. According to how Arrhenius defined base, it
is any substance that produce hydroxide ion (OH-) in aqueous solution.
Therefore, as in basic solution, there is greater amount of hydroxide ion presented in the solution than
hydrogen ion. The equilibrium constant of water is at 1.0 x 10-14. Both of the ion concentrations are at
1.0 x 10-7. In acidic solution, the constant value for hydrogen ion (H+) is greater than 1.0 x 10-7 M. In
basic solution, the constant value for hydroxide ion (OH-) is greater than 1.0 x 10-7. The acidity and
alkalinity are measured with a logarithmic scale called pH. To be more precise, pH is the negative
logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration: pH = −log [H+] (Acids, Bases, & the pH Scale, n.d.).
The pH value states the concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) contained in a solution. Aside from pH,
there is pOH, which determines the concentration of hydroxide ion (OH-) in a solution: pOH = −log
[OH-]. It is the measure of alkalinity of a solution. The sum of pH and pOH is 14. Therefore, the
value ranges from 0 to 14. If the solution has a pH value below 7, it displays acidic properties.
However, if it has a pH above 7, it indicates basic properties. This is vice versa for pOH value. pOH
value below 7 displays basic properties and value above 7 indicates acidic properties. Furthermore, it
is also possible to find the concentration of hydrogen ion [H+] or hydroxide ion [OH-] with the given
pH or pOH. The formula for finding the hydrogen ion is 10-pH = [H+] and 10-pOH = [OH-] is for finding
the concentration of hydroxide ion. The determination of pH is not only crucial in chemistry, but also
has a diverse variety of application in real life, such as in agriculture, wastewater treatment, industrial
processes, environmental monitoring, and in research and development (PH MEASUREMENT, n.d.).
All acids and bases do not ionize or dissociate to the same range. So it can be concluded that
acids and bases are not all of equal strength in producing H+ and OH- ions in solution. Therefore, the
strength or the degree of ionization of an acid or base is being illustrated through the expression of
“strong and weak” (David, 2008). Their strengths can be determined by measuring their equilibrium
constant in aqueous solutions. The equilibrium constant for acid is called the acid dissociation
constant, Ka. The equilibrium constant for base is called base dissociation constant, Kb. The larger the
Ka, the stronger the acid and the higher the H+ concentration at equilibrium (Stephen, n.d.).
Thus, the larger the Kb, the stronger the base and the higher the OH- concentration at equilibrium.
Accordingly, this can be concluded that strong acid and base will have a higher value of Ka and Kb
than the weak ones. Acid-base dissociation constants are actually the measure of of H+ or OH-
activities. A strong acid will completely ionize in water while a weak acid will only partially ionize.
This is the same for strong and weak base. The seven typical strong acids are; Hydroiodic acid (HI),
Hydrobromic acid (HBr), Hydrochloric acid (HCl), Nitric acid (HNO3), Perchloric acid (HClO4),
Sulfuric acid (H2SO4), and Phosphoric acid (H3PO4). Nitric acid (HNO3) and Perchloric acid (HClO4)
are monoprotic acid which one hydrogen atom. Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is diprotic acid, which yield two
hydrogen atoms and Phosphoric acid (H3PO4) is polyprotic acid, which yield three hydrogen atoms.
The seven typical strong bases are; Lithium hydroxide (LiOH), Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), Potassium
hydroxide (KOH), Caesium hydroxide (CsOH), Calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2), Strontium hydroxide
(Sr(OH)2), and Barium Hydroxide (Ba(OH)2).
In chemistry, there is a method that is associated with the use of acid and base to determine
the concentration of a substance. That method is known as acid-base Titration. It is the verification of
the concentration of acid or base by neutralizing the acid or base with an acid or base of known
concentration. The result of the process is the concentration of an unknown acid or base solution. The
acid-base titration makes use of the neutralization reaction that occurs between acids and bases.
However, in order to determine the unknown concentration of an acid or base, you must add the
opposite so that neutralization can be reached. Therefore, an acid of unknown concentration will be
titrated using a basic standard solution and a base of unknown concentration will be titrated using an
acidic standard solution (Lauren, n.d.). The process involves a solution of exactly known
concentration which is called titrant or standard solution. In this experiment, Sodium Hydroxide is
being used as the titrant. To begin with the titration, the titrant is delivered from a burette into the
unknown solution, known as the analyze, until reaching the equivalence point. In this case, our
analyze is the unknown concentration of acid. In order to achieve accurate result, the titrant must be
added to the analyze, very slowly and precisely. Performing rough titration before conducting the
actual titration helps obtaining the accurate result because the result from rough titration indicate the
approximate amount of titrant that must be used in order to reach the equivalence point. At the
equivalence point the correct amount of standard solution must be added to fully react with the
unknown concentration. Equivalence point is when neutralization occurs, the point in which the pH
value of the solution is approximately at 7. Due to the fact that the product of neutralization can’t be
seen by sight, indicators plays a vital role in this part. The end point of a titration arrives when the
indicator changes its color. The reaction of an acid and base is known as a neutralization reaction,
where neutral water and salt are formed as the products. When the neutralization occurs between
strong acid and strong base, the pH equal to 7. Indicator is what we used to determine when
neutralization occurs.
Neutralization Reaction
This varies for each type of indicator. The end point is indicated by some form of indicator
which varies depending on what type of titration being done. For example, if phenolphthalein is being
used as an indicator, then the solution will change into a light pink color when the titration is at its end
point. If bromophenol blue is used, then the solution will turn into blue color as it reaches the end
point. There are a wide variety of indicators which are used in respond to different type of titration. It
is important to choose the right indicator that suits specific type of solution for certain titration. The
indicator which will change color as close as possible to that equivalence point must be chosen. The
equivalence point of a titration is where the two substances are mixed in exactly equation proportions.
This depends on the type of solution that is being working on and varies from titration to titration. For
titrations associated with strong acids and bases, any type of indicator can be utilized as the pH
change at the equivalence point is large (from 3 to 11), most indicators operate within this range (18.5
– Indicators, n.d.).
The most commonly used indicators are phenolphthalein, phenol red, bromophenol blue,
bromothymol blue, methyl orange, methyl red. The two indicators which are used in our experiment,
are phenolphthalein and bromophenol blue, a substance which undergoes a distinct color change at or
near the equivalence point. The equivalent point is the point where the moles of acid are equal to the
amount needed to neutralize the equivalent moles of base. The point at which the indicator changes
color and the titration is stopped is called the endpoint. So, the endpoint should be the same with the
equivalence point. Phenolphthalein is colorless in acidic solution and when the reaction reach end
point, the solution turns pale pink. For bromophenol blue, it is yellow in acidic reaction and turns to
yellow-greenish in basic solution
In titration, excess water from rinsing your glassware when some of the titrant stuck at the
edge of it can affect the concentration and pH of the final solution. According to molarity formula,
moles of solute divided by the liters of solution. If the mole of solute is the same since the very
beginning until the end, but the volume increases. Molarity which is used to describe the
concentration of solution is decreased. The decreased in molarity also has a consequences on the pH
of the solution. Referring to the formula of finding pH from the concentration of hydrogen and
hydroxide ion; pH = −log [H+] and pOH = −log [OH-]. If the concentration of the ion changes, the pH
and the pOH will also change respectively. However, the Titration result and the volume of NaOH
used is not affected. The titration result does not change because the endpoint is the same. As for the
volume of NaOH, it remains the same. Adding water only dilutes the solution, it does not interfere
with the amount of base used to perform titration.
The objective of this lab, titration, is to illustrate the basic laboratory method of titration, to
learn what is end point, what is the equivalent point and to learn how to determine the quantity or
concentration of one of the reagents that is unknown by calculate molarity based on titrations.
Experiment
Material:
1. sodium hydroxide solution
2. phenolphthalein
3. bromophenol blue
4. unknown concentration of acid(HCl)
5. distilled water
Laboratory apparatus:
1. Beaker
2. Buret
3. Funnel
4. Volumetric pipette
5. Erlenmeyer flask
6. Wash bottle
7. 2 rings stand with clamp
8. Googgle
9. Gloves
10. pH meter
11. volumetric pipette
12. pipette filler
Procedure:
1. Record the molarity of the sodium hydroxide solution on the data sheet.
2. Pour 100 mL of the sodium hydroxide solution into a clean beaker (should be enough for the
initial cleaning of buret and for the first 3 trials).
3. Clean the buret: Add about 5 mL of the base solution from the beaker to the buret
using a funnel. Move the funnel around while adding to ensure the sides of the buret are
coated with base. Drain the solution through the stopcock into a waste beaker. Repeat this
rinse 3 times.
4. Pour more of the sodium hydroxide solution into the buret until it is near the 0.00 mL mark.
Open the stopcock to allow several drops to rinse through the tip of the buret to eliminate any
air bubbles in the buret tip. Record your initial buret reading on the data sheet for trial.
5. Suck 10.00 mL of the acid solution into the volumetric pipette then pour the acid into an
Erlenmeyer flask. Add about 2‐3 drops of phenolphthalein in the flask.
6. Start adding the base in the flask under the buret. When it start to turn look pink be more
careful and add one drop at a time slowly. The lighter of the pink is the better, so do not add
too much.
7. Record the amout of sodium hydroxide by reading it from buret.
8. Repeat step 6-7 for another flask
9. Conduct additional titrations until the volume of NaOH used in two of them differ by no more
than 1 ml.
10. Using PH meter to measure amount of PH in mixing soulution.
11. Repeat the step 5 by using bromophenol blue as indicator instead of phenolphthalein
12. Complete the data sheet and post‐lab questions.
Results
figure 1. Mixtures with bromophenol blue as an indicator figure 2. Mixtures with phenolphthalein as an indicator
PRE‐LAB QUESTIONS
1. How will you know when your titration is finished?
- We know the titration is finished when the indicator started to change color. If the indicator
is phenolphthalein, then the titration is finished when it turns from colorless to light pink. If the
indicator is bromophenol blue, then the color will change from yellow to blue.
2. Label the pH scale below with acid, base, and neutral, indicating numbers for each.
3. On the scale above, use an arrow to show where your equivalence point is located.
4. Write the neutralization reaction that occurs between hydrobromic acid (HBr) and lithium
hydroxide (LiOH).
LiOH + H Br → LiBr + H 2 O
5. What is the concentration of 10.00 mL of HBr if it takes 16.73 mL of a 0.253 M LiOH solution to
neutralize it?
The ratio of LiOH and HBr is 1:1 respectively. If we know the mol of LiOH, we will also know the
mol of HBr.
pH 8.79 3.9
Calculation
- For Phenolphthalein
NaOH + HCl → NaCl + H 2 O
NaOH: 0.1 M, 5.09 mL
HCl: ? M
POST‐LAB QUESTIONS
1. How would it affect your results if you used a beaker with residual water in it to measure out your
standardized sodium hydroxide solution?
- The solution will dilute and the ph of the solution might not accurate. The best way to do is to
remove all the leftover water so that we can get an accurate result.
2. How would it affect your results if you used a wet Erlenmeyer flask instead of a dry one when
transferring your acid solution from the volumetric pipette?
- Using wet Erlenmeyer flask will result in inaccurate result because the leftover water could
slightly affect the ph concentration of acid solution.
3. How do you tell if you have exceeded the equivalence point in your titration?
- By using indicator will help use to determine when will the titration exceed the equivalent
point, depending on types of indicators. For phenolphthalein, the color will change from clear
color to pink(7.0-8.0) as the solution become more basic, while bromophenol blue will change
from clear color to greenish gray(3.0-4.6) as the solution become more basic. The brighter the
color change, the closer the solution to equivalence point.
4. Vinegar is a solution of acetic acid (CH3COOH) in water. For quality control purposes, it can be
titrated using sodium hydroxide to assure a specific % composition. If 25.00 mL of acetic acid is
titrated with 9.08 mL of a standardized 2.293 M sodium hydroxide solution, what is the molarity of
the vinegar?
- As the ratio of CH3COOH to NAOH is 1:1, then there are 0.02082044 mol of CH3COOH.
- Find concentration of CH3COOH
Given that there are 25.00 ml of acetic acid and we know that there are 0.02082044 mol of acetic acid,
then we can calculate the concentration
0.02082044 mol
0.025 l = 8.328176 × 10−1 M
Discussion:
There were some errors taking place during our experiment. When we were cleaning the
pipette by using the hydrochloric acid, rolling inside the pipet, we accidentally spill the hydrochloric
acid on the table. Although that might not affect the result of our experiment, it lessens the time for us
to do the next step. Fortunately, the HCl did not spill on anyone. If it did spill, someone might get
hurt. Another error is quite common in this experiment which is adding excess amount of NaOH.
When we were gradually adding the amount of NaOH into HCl solution in order to get an favourable
color, we unintentionally add too much amount of NaOH so that we had to do another trial. The next
error is that the concentration between HCl with phenolphthalein and HCl with bromophenol blue is
slightly different due to adding an inaccurate amount of NaOH. The concentration of HCl with
phenolphthalein is modestly higher than the concentration of HCl with bromophenol blue. As a result,
the result is not one hundred percent accurate.
Conclusion
The concentration of unknown hydrochloric acid (HCl) can be calculated by titrating it with
sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which has a concentration of 0.1 M. First, for the beaker that use
phenolphthalein as an indicator, 5.09 mL of NaOH is added to HCl to reach the endpoint. From this,
concentration and pH of HCl can be calculated, which are 5.09 x 10−2 M and 1.29 respectively.
Similarly, the beakers that use Bromophenol blue as indicator use 4.9 mL of NaOH to reach endpoint,
and concentration and pH of HCl in this scenario is 4.9 x 10−2 M and 1.31 respectively. In conclusion,
although there are 1.9 x 10−3 M differences, the concentration of HCl in both beakers of two
indicators is very close.(5 x 10−2 M ) .
Suggestion
Before doing the titration we need to rinse all the equipments first in order to protect it from
contamination. Using the same substance that we will use in each equipment to rinse for 3 times.
While rinsing it, put other equipment away in order to be aware from spill that would cause
contamination.To get less error as much as possible, the amount of acid and base we measured need to
be precise and accurate. Dropping sodium hydroxide into the flask is very sensitive. Even a half drop
can change the PH which means the whole color of the solution will also change. In addition, when
the color start to develop, be more careful and starting to drop the sodium hydroxide one drop at a
time and also swirling it at the same time. When sodium hydroxide stuck on the flask, put it down by
using distilled water in the wash bottle, it might not really affect the PH that much but to be concern,
adding too much water can change that amount of concentration, which result in changing PH.
Swirling the solution while dropping the solution down every time and be careful not to swirl to hard
as the flask might break the burner or the solution will spill out.
References
Acids and Bases - Lewis Definition Of Acids And Bases. (2018). Retrieved from
http://science.jrank.org/pages/43/Acids-Bases-Lewis-definition-acids-bases.html
Acids, Bases, & the pH Scale, (2002-2018). Retrieved from
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/references/acids-bases-the-ph-scale
Arrhenius acids and bases. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry/acids-and-bases-topic/acids-and-bases/a/ar
rhenius-acids-and-bases
Indicators. (2016). Retrieved from http://ibchem.com/IB/ibnotes/18.5.htm
PH MEASUREMENT. (2018) Retrieved from
http://www.labdepotinc.com/articles/pH-information-2.html
Lauren X. (Feb 7, 2016) Titration Fundamentals Retrieved from
https://chem.libretexts.org/Demonstrations_and_Experiments/Basic_Lab_Techniques/Titrati
on/Titration_Fundamentals
Matt, N. (2014). Conjugate Acids and Conjugate Bases. Retrieved from
https://socratic.org/chemistry/acids-and-bases/conjugate-acids-and-conjugate-bases
Ophardt, C. (2017). Acid and Base Strength. Retrieved from
https://chem.libretexts.org/Core/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry/Acids_and_Bases/Ion
ization_Constants/Acid_and_Base_Strength
Stephen, L. (2017). Acid Strength and the Acid Dissociation Constant (Ka). Retrieved from
https://chem.libretexts.org/Textbook_Maps/General_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Map%3A_
A_Molecular_Approach_(Tro)/16%3A_Acids_and_Bases/16.04%3A_Acid_Strength_and_t
he_Acid_Dissociation_Constant_(Ka)
Work log
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