Titrations allow the calculation of the concentration of a solute in an unknown solution, based on a standard solution, of which the concentration is known. Acids and bases combine in solution to form water and a salt, essentially neutralizing each other. For example, sodium hydroxide, which is a base, neutralizes acetic acid, forming the product of sodium acetate and water.1 The chemical reaction reaches the equivalent point when the two solutions are stoichiometrically equal. For acid-base titrations the indicators can change color due to a change in pH and this can help determine where the equivalent point is. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. A burette is cleaned with distilled water and rinsed with approximately 5 ml of NaOH solution, then filled to the 0.00 ml mark with NaOH. The NaOH level was recorded. A volumetric pipette was used to fill a 125 mL Erlenmeyer flask with 5.00 mL of vinegar (also known as acetic acid), and 3 drops of phenolphthalein were also added to the flask. The flask was placed under the burette and NaOH was slowly added to the flask while swirling it. Once a slight color change from clear to pink began, no more NaOH was added to the flask and the volume of the burette was recorded. The burette was refilled with NaOH and the entire process was repeated 3 more times for a total of 4 trials. The liquid volumes in this experiment were critical because 1 drop of NaOH had the potential to change the color of phenolphthalein in solution from clear to purple. A modified version of the dilution rule was used to calculate the molarity of acetic acid. The manufacturer-reported acetic acid concentration was calculated by converting g/mL to mol/L or M, to compare with the calculated acetic acid concentration value. The two values were very close and the percentage error was well below 5%, so there is no need to change the experimental procedure. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get Custom EssayThis experiment demonstrated how the molarity of an unknown solution in an acid-base titration can be determined using known volumes of solution and a standard solution. The rapid color change of phenolphthalein indicated that the equivalent point may be very difficult to reach once the pH approaches that of the equivalent point. A single drop of NaOH when the solution is near the equivalent point can dramatically change the pH. The percent error for the calculated molarity of acetic acid was 0.120%, so the experiment is valid.
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