UNIVERSITY OF GUYANA

FACULTY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

NAME: REDDY, Nadine Natalia DATE: Wednesday, February 15,2024

USI:1016769 TIME: 4:15PM-5:10PM
ROOM:D17

CHM 1207 Laboratory Exercise #1

Standardization of Potassium hydroxide using hydrochloric acid
Video Link: https://youtu.be/fXxQgpYRKm8
OBJECTIVES:

• Demonstrate proper techniques for use of the burette, pipette and volumetric flask.
• Standardize a potassium hydroxide solution.
• Understand the use of indicators in titration.

THEORY

Hydrochloric acid reacts with potassium hydroxide forming a salt and water.
KOH(aq) + HCl (aq) → NaCl (aq) + H2O (l)

As long as the reaction goes to completion, if one knows the following information:

• The balanced chemical equation for the reaction occurring

• The concentration of hydrochloric acid

then the exact amount of potassium hydroxide which reacts can be determined by a process
called titration. Titration describes a process where the concentration of an unknown substance is
determined by comparing it with a solution of known concentration (standard solution). In this
experiment this entails adding KOH slowly from a burette to a known quantity of HCl. The point
at which sufficient reactant has been added to just complete the reaction is called the
equivalence point. A method to determine this visually, is to add a dye (referred to as an
indicator) that changes color at or extremely close to this point. The point at which the indicator
actually changes color is referred to as the end point. (Read up more on titration using the
handout posted on moodle).

Throughout this experiment, the KOH solution will be in the burette, and the hydrochloric
acid solution will always be in the beaker. The phenolphthalein indicator is colorless in acidic
solution, and it will turn pink at the equivalence point.
SAFETY NOTES
• Eye protection must always be worn.
• Hydrochloric acid (HCl) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) are caustic and should not
come in contact with your skin or clothing. You must wear a properly buttoned up lab
coat.

1
METHOD

Herein is the method of this lab experiment. This is demonstrated in the video-link provided.
https://youtu.be/fXxQgpYRKm8

NOTE: The concentration of the HCl being used in this lab exercise is 0.1M. DO NOT USE the
value mentioned in the video demonstration.

1. Rinse the burette with 5mL of potassium hydroxide solution.

2. Obtain 100mL of potassium hydroxide solution in a clean dry 150mL beaker.
3. Fill the burette with the potassium hydroxide solution using a funnel. Place the beaker
holding the potassium hydroxide solution under the tip of the burette. Then allow the
base to flow out of the burette tip until the bottom of the meniscus is at zero mark. This
will be the initial reading of base in the trial, record this volume in the data table.
The volume should be recorded to the nearest 0.1 mL.
4. Obtain about 100 mL of hydrochloric acid solution in a clean, dry 150 mL beaker.
5. Obtain a 25.00 mL pipette and rinse it with about 5 mL of the standard HCl solution.
Transfer 25.00 mL of the standardized HCl solution into the Erlenmeyer flask. Add 1-2
drops of phenolphthalein indicator solution into the flask.
6. Repeat steps 4-5 for all your flasks.
7. Place a sheet of white paper under the burette. While swirling the conical flask slowly
add the potassium hydroxide from the burette until the solution in the flask turns pink.
Try to stop it at the first permanent hint of pink. Record the final volume of the burette.

2
INSTRUMENT READINGS:
This section provides you with instrument readings that you will discern and record into the
table found in the RESULTS section.

In a titration experiment, like this, the concentration and volume of the acid as well as the
volume of titrant (KOH) used during each titration must be recorded. The titrant, KOH, of
unknown concentration is placed in the burette and its volume used for each titration can be
obtained from the initial and final readings on the burette.

Use the IMAGES below and RECORD the initial and final burette readings for each in the table
found in the Results Section. ALL recorded reading must be to two (2) decimal places.

Trial/Rough: Acurrate 1:
Burette before titration (- Burette after titration (- Burette before titration (- Burette after titration (-
to be used as the initial to be used as the final to be used as the initial to be used as the final
reading): reading): reading): reading):

Acurrate 2: Accurate 3:

Burette before titration Burette after titration Burette before titration Burette after titration
(- to be used as the (- to be used as the (- to be used as the (- to be used as the
initial reading): final reading): initial reading): final reading):

3
RESULTS

Using the information provided in the METHOD and INSTRUMENTAL READING section
complete the table below.

Molarity of standardized hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution: 0.1 M or 0.1 mol/dm3

Volume of HCl delivered from the pipette: 25.00ml

(HINT: Refer to the METHOD)
Helpful Notes: Trial 1 2 3
Refer to the image in the Initial burette 11.90 23.30 34.70
INSTRUMENTAL reading (cm3) 0.00
READINGS section.
MUST be recorded to Two Final Burette 11.90 23.30 34.70 46.00
(2) decimal place. Recorded reading (cm3)
to the nearest 0.1ml
𝑇𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑒 = Volume of KOH 11.90 11.40 11.40 11.30
[𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔] used/ Titre:
– [𝐼𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔]
Calculate the average using Average Titre 11.37
the titre values that are (cm3)
±0.1ml from each other.

Table 1: Recorded volume of HCl and KOH used in the titration.

4
EXERCISE

Using the method outlined and results recorded answer ALL the following questions. SHOW
ALL working and include all units. (TIP: Refer to the reading materials and video recording
provided for assistance)

1. Calculate the number of moles of acid present in the volume used (HINT: The volume of
acid used can be found in the method).
Volume= 25ml
= 25
1000 L
= 0.25L
Number of moles = concentration (M) × Volume (L)
= 0.1M × 0.25 L
= 0.0025 moles of HCl

2. Determine the number of moles of base that reacts with the number of moles of acid
calculated in 1. Above.

Since the stoichiometry of the reaction is 1:1, the moles of KOH will be equal to the
moles of HCl used in the reaction.

KOH:HCl
1 : 1
This means that 0.0025 moles of KOH were also used in the titration.

3. Calculate the molarity of the potassium hydroxide solution.

Volume of solution = 11.37
1000 L
= 0.01137 L

Molarity = moles of solute

Volume of solution

= 0.0025 moles
0.01137 L
= 0.2198 M

5
 ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS:
NO references are required here.
1. How do air bubbles affect burette readings during a titration?
If air bubbles are present in the meniscus, the readings may be obscured. If the
bubbles are dissolved , they become part of the volume being released from the
burette which might cause the readings to be higher.

2. Why should the funnel be removed from the burette before titrating?
The funnel should be removed before titrating as there may be some residual reagent
left in the funnel that may leak into the burette, which may lead to falsely lowered
readings.

3. Why is the conical flask NOT rinsed with the analyte (HCl), before titrating?

The conical flask is not rinsed with the analyte (HCl) before titrating because this could
introduce more acid into the solution, altering the concentration and resulting in
inaccurate readings.

4. Why can water be used to water reagent down the sides of a conical flask during a titration?
Water can be used to water reagent down the sides of the conical flask because we are
interested in the amount of analyte rather than the concentration. Adding water will
not change the amount (number of moles) of the analyte in the solution.

5. Why the bulb of a pipette should not be held while transferring liquid?
The bulb of the pipette should not be held while transferring liquid as you may
accidentally squeeze out some of the liquid leading to an inaccurate amount being
transferred.

6. Why is it necessary to titrate to the faintest pink possible?

Phenolphthalein turns pink at 8.2, indicating that the neutralization point has been
reached. The fainter the pink the closer you are to the neutralization point.