Pm Shri Jawahar Navodaya

Vidyalaya Palus, sangli

CHEMISTRY INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT
Session 2024-25

To study the Determination of the

Amount of Phosphate in a Detergent

Name:- Pritam Vikram Thorat

Class :- 12TH Section :- PCM
Roll No. :- 1212
Subject :- Chemistry
Topic :- Amount of Phosphate in a
Detergent
Guided by :- Mrs. S.P Kakade

1
 Acknowledgements
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to
my chemistry teacher Mrs. Kakade as well as our principal
Mr. anil kamble who gave me the golden opportunity to do
this wonderful project on the topic Study of
Determination of the Amount of Phosphate in a Detergent
, which also helped me in doing a lot of Research and I
came to know about so many new things. I am really
thankful to them.
Secondly I would also like to thank my parents and friends
who helped me a lot in finishing this project within the
limited time.
Thirdly I also want to thank my chemistry lab assistant
Mrs. Patil for helping me to make this project successful.
Thanks Again To All Who Helped Me In Making Of This
Project.

-Pritam Thorat

2
 The Determination of the Amount
of Phosphate in a Detergent

CONTENT
Acknowledgements 2

Certificate 4

Abstract 5

Introduction 6
Excessive Use of Phosphate 7
Detergent 8

Experimental 10

Material Required 10
Cleaning of apparatus 10
Sampling 11
Sample Preparation 11
Reagents 12
Solution & determination of phosphate 13
Instrument 14

Result and Discussion 17

Conclusion 22

Bibliography 23

3
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Pritam Thorat

has satisfactorily completed the
course of Chemistry Investigatory
Project prescribed by the CBSE under
the AISSCE course in the laboratory of
J. N. V. Palus Sangli in the year of
2024-25.

Signatures

Chemistry Teacher Principal

4
 ABSTRACT
In this experiment we will analyze a detergent for
phosphate and comparing the result with the value
on the label. The concentration of phosphate in
some commercial detergents commonly used in
homes, laundry services, schools and offices in
Kano Metropolis have been determined.
The analyses were carried out on both local and
foreign detergents using a spectrophotometric
method. The method was based on the formation
of phosphomolybdate with added molybdate ion
followed by its reduction with sodium sulphide in
aqueous tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid medium.

The system obeys Lambert-Beer’s law at 715 nm in

the concentration range 0.3-12.24 ppm. Molar
absorptivity, correlation coefficient and Sandell’s
sensitivity values were found to be 6.1x103 mol-1
cm, -1 0.999 and 0.0156 µg cm-2 respectively. The
results obtained were reproducible with acceptable
standard deviation 3.7% and relative error 3.4%.

5
 INTRODUCTION
Phosphorus is the eleventh most abundant element
on the surface of the earth and is most commonly
found as phosphate. It plays a significant role in
biochemical processes and is a key factor in the
eutrophication of surface water Increased
phosphate concentrations are linked with
increasing rates of plant growth. The analytical
chemistry of phosphorus is very important in many
fields, for example, medical and clinical science,
agriculture, metallurgy, and environmental
science. Moreover, in recent years massive
quantities of phosphate have been used in
beverages, detergents, fertilizers and also in sugar
industries. In nature, phosphate rocks include
fluoroapatite, 3Ca3(PO4).CaF2, chloroapatite,
2Ca3(PO4).CaCl2 and hydroxyapatite,
3Ca3(PO4)2.Ca(OH)2 is the chief ore of phosphorus
The phosphorus is removed from the ore by first
grinding it to remove large lumps, and then
heating it in a mixture with sand (silica, SiO2) and
coke (carbon). Reaction –
2Ca3(PO4) 2 + 6SiO2 + 10C ⎯⎯→ 6CaSiO3 + 10CO + P4

6
 Excessive Use of
Phosphate
Phosphates are added to detergents as builders in
the form of sodium tripolyphosphate and sodium
pyrophosphate. The excessive use of phosphate as
water softeners is criticized by environmentalists
since it contributes to water pollution. The
phosphates in domestic waste water pass through
sewage disposal systems into rivers and lakes. The
phosphates may also produce massive overgrowth
of water plants. When this crop of plant dies, there
will be excessive decay and putrefaction, which
may also kill the fish.

In addition, excessive phosphates are known to

accelerate the natural aging of lakes
(eutrophication). They enter water ways as run off
from agricultural lands as fertilizer and as human
and animal waste. The largest source of
phosphorus entering the environment is synthetic
detergent, which contains phosphate compounds
to soften water, increase the pH of water, and
increase surfactant efficiency.

7
 Detergent
Detergent is a substance, which has the ability to
clean an object. A detergent may be regarded as a
surface-active agent (surfactant) particularly
effective in dislodging foreign matter from soiled
surfaces and retaining it in suspension. The term
usually denotes a synthetic substance that is not
prepared by saponifying fats and oils. The most
important advantage of the synthetic detergents is
better wetting and cleansing action and no
consumption by hard water because of higher
solubility of their Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions.

In some brands of detergents, as much as half the

total weight consists of inorganic phosphates such
as Na5P3O10, which form very stable complexes
with cations such as Ca2+, Mg2+ and Fe2+ that
would otherwise interfere with the cleansing
action of detergents. In addition, detergents
containing phosphates pose a serious threat to the
environment.

8
Phosphates perform many functions in
washing powders and detergent. They
soften hard water by binding with calcium
ions and magnesium ions. In this way they
prevent the lime in water from depositing
or settling on the textile fiber. If the water
is hard and contains dissolved lime, its
ability to dissolve soap decreases and the
cleansing powder deteriorates. Treating
hard water with trisodium phosphate
leads to a highly soft water of
approximately 0.03 mg eq/dm3; with the
chemical reactions as shown below.
3Ca(HCO3) + 2Na3PO4 Ca3(PO4)2 + 6NaHCO3

From hard water

3MgCl2 + 2Na3PO4 Mg3(PO4)2 + 6NaCl

From hard water

Moreover, phosphates stabilize the alkalinity of the

surfactants. They keep the dissolved dirt in the water and
prevent it from penetrating back into clothes.

9
 EXPERIMENTAL
• Material Required :-
In the preparation of reagents,
chemicals of analytical grade purity and
distilled water were used.

• Cleaning of apparatus:-
All glassware as well as plastic
containers including crucibles and
pipettes were thoroughly washed using
a detergent solution followed by rinsing
in tap water and distilled water. The
cleaned glassware was finally dried in an
oven overnight at 30o C.

10
• Sampling:-
The representative samples used for the
purpose of this work include: Bp(Polythene),
Bn(Carton), Jb(Polythene), Zp(Polythene),
Ep(Polythene), Br (Polythene), Kl (Polythene),
Gn(Polythene), Om (Polythene), Bb(Polythene),
Ar (Polythene), Dm (Carton), Ps(Carton),
Ta(Carton), Bs (Carton), Td (Carton), Bg
(Polythene), Lk (Polythene), Kn (Polythene), Lb
(Carton).

• Sample Preparation:-
5 g of each of the powdered sample was weighed into
porcelain crucibles and placed in a muffle furnace set
at 350o C for half an hour; fume was released and the
obtained ash was transferred into a 150 cm3 beaker. It
was dissolved with 50 cm3 water and the solution was
made acidic by adding dilute tetraoxosulphate (VI)
acid. It was then heated on a water bath at 100o C for
about 10 minutes to expel the hydrogen sulphide and
nitrite. The resulting solution was filtered into a 100
cm3 volumetric flask and diluted to the mark with
water. The solution was used for its phosphate
content analysis.

11
• Reagents:-
5.9 x 10-3 M Ammonium molybdate: 1.7081 g of
ammonium molybdate ((NH4)6Mo7O24) was weighed
and dissolved in a beaker containing 150 cm3 of warm
water and solution cooled to room temperature. It
was then transferred into a 250 cm3 volumetric flask
and diluted to the mark with water.

6.4 x 10-3 M Sodium Sulphide: 0.05 g of sodium

sulphide was weighed and transferred into a clean
100 cm3 beaker. It was then dissolved with about 50
cm3 of water and the solution was transferred into a
100 cm3 volumetric flask. The beaker was washed 3-4
times with 5.0 cm3 water and washings were also
added into the flask and the resulting solution diluted
to the mark with water.

0.125 M Tetraoxosulphate (VI) Acid:

Tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid (0.125 M) was prepared by
adding 6.9 cm3 of the concentrated tetraoxosulphate
(VI) acid (S.G. 1.84, 98%) to 500 cm3 of water in 1000
cm3 volumetric flask and the resulting solution diluted
to the mark with water.

12
• Standard Solution of Phosphate:-
0.3738 g of disodium hydrogen phosphate was
weighed using a watch glass and transferred
into a 150 cm3 beaker. 50 cm3 of water was
added; the solution was transferred into a 250
cm3 volumetric flask and diluted to mark with
more water. This was labelled as the stock
solution and from which working standard
solution was prepared by diluting 10 cm3 of the
solution to 100 cm3 with water.
• Procedure for the Determination of
Phosphate:-
A series of ten 10 cm3 volumetric flasks were labelled.
To each flask was added 0.5 cm3 of 5.9 x 10-3M
ammonium molybdate, 3 cm3 of 0.125 M
tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid and aliquots of disodium
hydrogen phosphate, which ranged from 0.30-12
mgdm-3 (i.e., 0.10, 0.20, 0.30, 0.50, 1.00, 2.00, 2.50,
3.00, 3.50 and 4.00 cm3.) were added. Finally, to each
flask, 1 cm3 of 6.4 x 10-3 M sodium sulphide solution
was added as a reducing agent. Each solution was
allowed to set at room temperature for about 20
minutes to enable full colour development. The
absorbances of the solutions were taken at 715 nm.

13
 Instrument
• Spectrophotometer:-

Visible spectrophotometer cell model

7400 with 1 cm matched quartz cells
and a digital balance readable 0.001
was used. The spectrophotometer was
turned on and allowed to warm up for
15 minutes. The wavelength was set to
715 nm. A cuvette containing the blank
was inserted into the reference
chamber, and the absorbance adjusted
to zero.

14
• Procedure for the measurement of the
effect of ionic strength on the absorption
properties of phosphate:-
Three sets of five 10 cm3 volumetric flasks
were labelled. To each flask was added 0.5
cm3 of 5.9 x 10-3 M ammonium molybdate, 3
cm3 of 0.125 M tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid,
aliquots of disodium hydrogen phosphate
corresponding to 1.5 cm3 was added and 2
cm3 of sodium trioxonitrate (V), sodium
chloride and sodium iodide, which have a
concentration range from 0.2 M to 0.8 M
were added separately to each of the three
sets. Finally, to each flask, 1 cm3 of 6.4 x 10-3
M sodium sulphide solution was added as a
reducing agent. Each solution was allowed
to set at room temperature for about 20
minutes to enable full colour development.
The absorbances of the solutions were taken
at 715 nm.

15
• Procedure for the measurement of the
effects of pH on the absorption
properties of phosphate:-
A series of nine 10 cm3 volumetric flasks
were labelled. To each flask was added 0.5
cm3 of 5.9 x 10-3 M ammonium molybdate, 3
cm3 of 0.125 M tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid, 1
cm3 of disodium hydrogen phosphate and 2
cm3 of a buffer solution with pH ranging
from 3 to 11 was added separately to each
flask. Finally, to each flask, 1 cm3 of 6.4 x 10-
3 M sodium sulphide solution was added as

a reducing agent. Each solution was allowed

to set at room temperature for about 20
minutes to enable full colour development.
The absorbances of the solutions were taken
at 715 nm.

16
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
• Plot of the standard solution of
phosphate:-
A linear relationship was found to exist
between the absorbance of the system
and concentration of phosphate(0.30-7.50
mgdm-3) with a straight line passing
through the origin. The equation of the
straight line has a correlation of 0.9997.
The phosphate levels in the locally
available detergents ranged between
0.0100 ± 0.001-0.0662 ± 0.001 and those
of foreign detergents ranged between
0.0047 ± 0.001-0.0305 ± 0.000. A critical
examination of Table 1 and 2 revealed
that local detergents like Om, Bb, Br, Bp,
and Ar with percentage phosphate
content corresponding to 0.0662%,
0.0462%,

17
0.0460%, 0.0529% and 0.0415%,
respectively have a higher phosphate
content than the foreign ones like Ps, Td,
Lk, Ta, Dm, Bg, Bs, Kn, and Lb having
percentage phosphate content
corresponding to 0.00473%, 0.0423%,
0.0272%, 0.00680%, 0.00491%, 0.0255%,
0.0305% and 0.0064%, respectively.

18
However, Ar of local brand with percentage
phosphate content as 0.0415% almost have
the same concentration of phosphate as Td of
the foreign product with percentage
composition of phosphate as 0.0423%. In the
local detergents analysed Ep has the lowest
concentration of 0.010% with a standard
deviation of ± 0.000. It was observed that Ps of
foreign origin with phosphate content of
0.0047% ± 0.001 has the least concentration
of all the detergent used for this study.

19
In addition, the mean standard deviation of
the local detergents were ± 0.001, ± 0.002 and
± 0.003 while those of the foreign detergents
was ± 0.001. This shows that the mean
deviation of the foreign detergents agree
among themselves more than those of the
local detergents. This means that the foreign
companies are keeping to the set standards.

The effect of the changes of ionic strength of the

solution on the absorption process of the technique
was under-taken and it was noted that ionic
strength does not affect the methodology. This can
be seen from the graph of absorbance/ionic
strength. Also, the study on the effect of pH gave
the plot as shown in Figure 1. This shows that there
20
is no need for strict pH control when an analysis of
this nature is being carried out.

It was observed that the mean percentage

phosphate in the local and in the foreign
detergents analyzed were 0.039% and 0.019%,
respectively indicating that local detergents
contained approximately twice phosphate as
builder than foreign detergents. Since the
washing capacities of the foreign and local
detergents are similar, it indicates that foreign
detergents are using other builders in addition
to phosphates.
The present study indicated that detergents
available locally contain higher levels of
phosphate in comparison to the ones obtained
from other parts of the world. Thus, higher
amounts of phosphate are released into the
sewers, lakes, ponds and rivers, via laundry
services, hand washings, kitchen utensils
washings etc., by the use of local detergents
when compared to the contribution of
phosphate from foreign detergents.

21
 CONCLUSION
• The results indicated that local detergents
contain higher percentage of phosphate
than the foreign ones. The results
however, indicated that there is a
significant variation in terms of the
phosphate levels between the local and
foreign detergents.
• This study has revealed that continuous
use of these products could result in an
increase in the phosphate levels in laundry
discharges into soil, ponds, lakes and
rivers.
• An excessive amount of phosphorus has
long been implicated in the eutrophication
of surface water bodies. Therefore, to
promote lake/river recovery and improve
trophic status, it is recommended that
phosphorus loads entering surface waters
are reduced.

22
 Bibliography
https://www.researchgate.net
https://core.ac.uk
https://www.seminarsonly.com

23