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Standardization of Naoh

You will determine the precise concentration of a NaOH solution you previously made by performing acid-base titrations with KHP as the titrant. The titration endpoint will be detected using phenolphthalein indicator, which turns the solution pink at the equivalence point. You will perform multiple trials of the titration and calculate the average concentration of the NaOH solution from the results. Proper technique and attention to significant figures is important to obtain accurate data.

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87 views

Standardization of Naoh

You will determine the precise concentration of a NaOH solution you previously made by performing acid-base titrations with KHP as the titrant. The titration endpoint will be detected using phenolphthalein indicator, which turns the solution pink at the equivalence point. You will perform multiple trials of the titration and calculate the average concentration of the NaOH solution from the results. Proper technique and attention to significant figures is important to obtain accurate data.

Uploaded by

sadya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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STANDARDIZATION OF NaOH

Purpose: You will precisely measure the concentration of the NaOH solution you prepared last
lab by carrying out a series of acid/base neutralizations.

Background: A neutralization is when an acid and a base react together to form a salt. You will
react a strong base, sodium hydroxide, with a weak acid, potassium hydrogen phthalate (Figure
1). Because potassium hydrogen phthalate is awkward to say/write, we abbreviate the name
KHP. This is confusing because it looks like a chemical formula, but it’s not. There is no
phosphorus (P), and remember that potassium’s symbol is K, not P. The products formed are
KNaP (potassium sodium phthalate) and water.

As described in our textbook, when you want to know exactly how much of a substance you
have, you can carry out a titration. Using an exact amount of one reactant (the titrant) you can
figure out how much of the other reactant (the analyte) must be present. There has to be some
obvious sign when the mole ratio of titrant and analyte match the balanced equation ratio. This is
the equivalence point. We measure the equivalence point by adding an indicator molecule that
changes color. The human eye is much better at telling the difference between “clear” and
“colored” than it is at distinguishing between two different shades, so the endpoint (when you
should stop) is when the solution is the faintest shade of color that you can see (Figure 2). At this
point, the balanced equation tells you the ratio of reactants; neither one is in excess. Titrations
are very useful in medicine (determining how much medication someone needs), food processing
(figuring out how much fat is in a product), and industry (measuring how much heavy metal is in
a waste stream).

For the NaOH solution you made last lab, only the approximate concentration is known. You did
not use exact volumes (the bottle used is not an exact volumetric piece of glassware), and the
deionized water you used contains some impurities (like carbon dioxide). You will measure the
exact concentration of NaOH using pure KHP as the titrant. Next lab, you will turn around and
use the exact concentration of this standardized solution. Look at one of these tutorial videos for
titration tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFpFCPTDv2w or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DkB82xLvNE
Figure 2: Colors observed during a titration.
Don’t go too far!

Start Endpoint Too Far

Procedure: This is the part you have to write in your notebook. You will work alone for this lab.

1. Obtain from the desiccator one of the vials of KHP. The molecular weight of KHP is
204.23 g/mol.
2. Obtain a buret and the bottle of NaOH you made last week from the cabinet. Make sure
your buret is clean and the stopcock is tightened. Rinse the buret three times with 5 mL
portions of your NaOH solution.
3. Fill the buret, and adjust the volume between 0 and 1 mL. Remove any bubbles; don’t
forget about the tip of the buret. Read and record the initial volume to two decimal
places. Make sure your eye is lined up to avoid parallax errors.
4. Use the analytical balance to weigh at least 1.0 g but not more than 1.1 g of KHP. Record
all 4 decimal places. Transfer the weighed KHP to a 250 mL Erlenmeyer flask, and use
deionized water from your squirt bottle to rinse any remaining solid in the weigh boat
into the flask.
5. Dissolve the KHP in 75 mL of deionized water. Don’t worry if not all of it dissolves, just
write it down as an observation, and make sure it all dissolves before the endpoint. Add 3
drops of phenolphthalein indicator to the flask.
6. Dispense NaOH from the buret into the flask and swirl. When the solution turns faint
pink and the color lasts 10 seconds, you have reached the endpoint. It should take 20 - 40
mL of NaOH. Write the final volume down to two decimal places. Expert titrators can
split drops to get exactly the endpoint. If it turns dark pink (fuscia) you have overshot the
endpoint. After the titration, the solution may be rinsed down the drain.
7. Repeat the titration 3 times. Keep the mass of KHP used as constant as possible.
Calculate the concentration of your NaOH solution and the average deviation (as in Lab
1). If the average deviation is less than 0.0002 M, you can stop. If not, do another trial or
two (no more than 5 total).
8. Before the buret is stored, rinse it thoroughly with water, and loosen the stopcock. Put the
KHP vial in the box - not in the desiccators. Put the bottle of NaOH back in the cabinet
for the next lab.
Example Data Table:

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5


Mass KHP
Initial buret vol
Final buret vol

After completing the procedure but before leaving lab, write in your notebook a brief statement
(two to three sentences) on the quality and reasonableness of the data you collected. Note what
you might do differently if you performed the lab again.

Tips:
 Do not throw the data out if you overshoot. One extra drop can cause a huge change in
color but have a pretty small effect on concentration. Just record it as an observation.
 Use the deionized water squirt bottle to rinse down the sides of your flask if anything
splashes.
 Do the first run quickly to get an idea of where the endpoint will be. Then use similar
masses of KHP for the subsequent runs, so you’ll know exactly when to slow down.
 If the volume required to titrate 1 g of KHP is not in the range of 20-50 mL of NaOH,
your solution was made incorrectly (you probably used KOH or measured the volume
incorrectly). Talk to your instructor.
 Watch significant figures. Rounding errors can affect your precision.
 If you’ve added more base than should be required and there’s still no hint of pink, make
sure you didn’t forget the phenolphthalein indicator.
 If you’re not sure if something is pink, try comparing it to a white sheet of paper near
natural light.

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