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PH Measurement Lab Report Amy Wildes

This document describes an experiment where different indicators were used to determine the pH of various solutions. Color changes were observed and recorded when the indicators were mixed with each solution. The results were shown in a table with the colors and pH levels. The accuracy of the results were analyzed by calculating percent errors.

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Amy Wildes
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48 views

PH Measurement Lab Report Amy Wildes

This document describes an experiment where different indicators were used to determine the pH of various solutions. Color changes were observed and recorded when the indicators were mixed with each solution. The results were shown in a table with the colors and pH levels. The accuracy of the results were analyzed by calculating percent errors.

Uploaded by

Amy Wildes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Measurement of pH Using Indicators

Amy Wildes

Introduction

In this lab we were determining the pH of a solution. We did this by observing color changes when

we placed indicators into different solutions. The Bronsted and Lowry definition of acids and bases is

an extension off of the Arrhenius theory. Bronsted and Lowry state that an acid is a substance that

donates a H+ ion or proton which then forms its conjugate base. The base is defined as a substance

that will accept a H+ ion or proton to form its conjugate acid. 1 An indicator which we placed into the

solutions, are weak acids or bases that have complicated structures. They change colors due to

differences in pH levels.2

Experimental Section

To carry out this procedure we started by placing one drop of a solution into seven different wells in the

plate. To each of the seven wells, we added one drop of each different indicator. We used a glass stir rod

to mix each of the indicators and solutions together. We recorded the color of each well and wrote

down the pH of each well. We then proceeded to repeat this process with the other seven solutions,

adding each of the seven indicators to these solutions. Recording the change in color and pH number for

each mixture.3
Results

In Table 1 I will be showing all of the data that I recorded during this lab. Each of the mixtures will have

the color that was recorded along with the pH number.

Table 1. Results of Adding Indicators to Solutions

Indicators Thymol Bromo- Bromo- Bromo- Bromo- Phenol Alizarin Average


Blue phenol cresol cresol thymol Red Yellow pH level
Solutions Blue Green Purple Blue
DI Water Dull Bright Teal in Dull Light Bright Bright pH: 7.9
yellow purple color purple green orange yellow
in color color pH: 5.9 color pH: 7.3 pH:8.1 pH: 10
pH: 7.9 pH: 9.1 pH:6.8
Sodium Dull Bright Bright Dull Dull teal Bright red Light pH: 8.6
Acetate yellow purple blue purple pH: 7.8 and yellow
and pH: 9.1 pH: 8.5 pH: 8.8 orange pH: 10.1
green pH: 8.3
pH: 7.9
Hydro- Pink and Bright Pale Butter Light Yellow Very pale pH:1.9
chloric red yellow golden yellow orange orange yellow
Acid pH:1.4 pH: 1.9 yellow pH: 2.6 pH: 1.4 pH: 2.1 pH: 1.1
pH:2.9
Acetic Acid Bright Yellow Pale Bright Pale gold Bright Light pH: 3.3
gold pH: green pH: yellow yellow pH: 2.6 yellow yellow
2.9 3.8 pH: 3.1 pH: 4.8 pH: 4.6 pH: 1.5
Sodium Dark Purple Bright Dark Blue Pinkish Orange pH: 10.6
Carbonate blue pH: 11.7 blue pastel pH: 7.9 red pH: 11.8
pH: 10.5 pH: 11.5 purple pH: 13.5
pH: 6.9
Ammonia Dark Bright Bright Dull Sky blue Bright red Yellow pH: 10.5
blue purple blue pH: purple pH: 10.8 pH:11.2 orange
pH: 9.6 pH: 10.1 10.9 pH: 9.8 pH: 10.9
Aluminium Yellow Dark Lime Yellow Golden Bright Dark pH:4.1
Sulfate orange green green pH: 3.1 color yellow yellow
pH: 2.9 pH: 4.6 pH: 3.7 pH: 3.5 pH: 4.9 pH:6.4
Unknown Gold Bright Bright Dull Pale Bright Bright pH: 6.6
Buffer (4) pH: 3.1 purple blue purple green orange yellow
pH: 5.9 pH: 7.3 pH: 6.9 pH: 7.1 pH: 8.2 pH: 7.9
In this table, it can be seen that the acid solutions tend to have a lower pH level. The brighter each of the

colors from mixing, the higher the pH level tends to be.


Discussion

To determine how accurate my results were, I had to calculate the percent error for each of the

solutions and their pH levels. To do this, I had to subtract the true pH value of a solution from the value I

calculated during lab. Then I divided that by the true pH value then multiply it by 100 to get a

percentage. The percent error of distilled water was 12.9%. Sodium acetate had no error which means it

was perfect. There was a 90% error with HCl which was extremely high which could have been due to

miscalculating the pH levels during the experiment. The acetic acid had a 13.7% error and the sodium

carbonate ended up having only 6% error. Ammonia also had a low percent error of 5%. The aluminum

sulfate had a 32% error.

The pH I calculated from the unknown buffer was 6.6. Based on this pH level, I would have to say that

this unknown buffer acidic. I believe this is acidic because of the lower pH level. Basic solutions tended

to have a higher pH level as can be seen in Table 1.

References

1
Kauffman, George B. “The Bronsted-Lowry Acid Base Concept.” Journal of Chemical Education,

vol. 65, no. 1, Jan. 1988, p. 28.

2
“Indicators.” Chemistry LibreTexts, 17 Aug. 2015,

https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps

/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Acids_and_Bases/Acid/Indicat

ors.

3
Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Chemistry 104 Laboratory

Manual, Fall 2019 ed., UW-Whitewater, 2019, 91-95.


Appendix

Sodium Acetate: CH3COONa -> CH3COO- + Na+


(base) (acid)

Hydrochloric Acid: HCl -> H+ + Cl-


(Acid) ( Conjugate Base)

Acetic Acid: CH3COOH -> H+ + CH3COO-


(acid) (base)

Sodium Carbonate: H2O + CO2 + NaCO3 -> Ca2+ + HCO3-


(Acid) (base)

Ammonia: NH3 + H2O -> NH 4+ + OH-


(base1) (acid1) (Conjugate acid) (conjugate base)

Aluminum Sulfate: 2 Al(OH)3 + 3 H2SO4 -> Al2(SO4)3 + H2O


(acid) (base) (conjugate acid) (conjugate base)

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