BSCH 1313:

PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY

EXPERIMENT 1:
VOLUMETRIC GLASSWARE CALIBRATION

DATE
18 OCTOBER 2023

LECTURER
ASST. PROF. DR. WAN HAZMAN DANIAL

NO. MATRIC NO. NAME

1 2311454 NUR SHAFIZAH BINTI KHAFI
2 2318212 FATIN AQILAH BT IBRAHIM
3 2316850 NUR ZETTY SABRINA BINTI MOHD RADHI
4 2316468 NUR AFIFAH BT MOHD FAUZI
 INTRODUCTION

Laboratory techniques are vital for anyone conducting experiments as they guarantee
accuracy and precision in every procedure. Students will use a variety of volumetric glassware
and other equipment while doing the laboratory experiments. It is essential to ensure proper
equipment calibration to prevent systematic errors in measurements. Therefore, the
experiment is meant to teach students with appropriate laboratory techniques in using
glassware, the value of preparation before going to the lab and techniques for analysing
experimental results. Moreover, this experiment intends to examine how several types of
glassware affect the accuracy of measuring liquid volumes very precisely in quantitative
laboratory works.
MATERIALS & GLASSWARES

1. 50 mL volumetric flask
2. 50 mL burette
3. Pipette
4. Thermometer
5. 50 mL beaker
6. Dropper
7. Acetone
8. Distilled water
 PROCEDURES

Part A: Volumetric Flask

Part B: Pipette

Part C: Burette
 RESULTS

ToC : 25.0o Density ( g/mL): 997.0479 1st 2nd 3rd

Empty flask mass (g) 40.204 40.203 44.410

Filled mass (g) 89.913 89.761 94.022

Mass of water (g) 49.709 49.558 49.612

Volume water ( mL) 49.856 49.705 49.759

Mean value 49.773 Standard 0.063

deviation

Table 1.0: Mean and standard deviation of volume water by using volumetric flask.

ToC : 23.0o Density ( g/mL): 997.55 1st 2nd 3rd

Mass of empty beaker( g) 33.148 37.218 37.009

Mass of beaker + water(g) 43.196 47.186 47.046

Mass of water (g) 10.048 9.968 10.037

Volume water (mL) 10.073 9.992 10.061

Mean value 10.042 Standard 0.036

deviation

Table 2.0: Mean and standard deviation of water volume by using pipette
T0C : 23.0 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Density (g/mL): 997.55

Initial reading (mL) 2.00 12.00 27.00 3.00 8.00

Final reading (mL) 12.00 27.00 47.00 28.00 38.00

Total volume (mL) 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00

Mass of beaker (g) 39.751 33.423 27.990 37.112 38.153

Mass of beaker+water(g) 49.792 48.353 47.892 62.149 68.232

Mass of water (g) 10.041 14.930 19.902 25.037 30.079

True volume (mL) 10.07 14.97 19.95 25.10 30.15

Mean value 20.048 Standard 7.112

deviation

Table 3.0: Mean and standard deviation of water volume by using burette.
 DISCUSSIONS

The calibration of volumetric glassware is fundamental in ensuring the accuracy and

precision of measurements in quantitative analysis. The purpose of this experiment is to
calibrate certain measurements by using three types of glassware which are volumetric flasks,
burette, and pipettes.

In part A: volumetric flask calibration was conducted by weighing the water in the 50
mL volumetric flask. To get the mass of water, we subtract the mass of the empty volumetric
flask from the filled volumetric flask which is 49.709 g which then was converted to kg.
Following the measurement of water temperature, the water density at 25°C was taken from
table A.1 in the appendix, which is 997.0479 kg/m3. Subsequently, the volume of water was
calculated as 49.774 mL by dividing the water's mass in kg by its density. To evaluate the
consistency of the results, measurements of the water's mass were taken three times to get
three volumes of water using the same procedure and the calculation of standard deviation
was conducted. The standard deviation is a valuable metric in this experiment because it
showcases the consistency of measurements. A smaller standard deviation signifies greater
precision, while a larger standard deviation indicates lower precision and more variability in
the measurements. Hence, after calculation, we got 0.063 which was low. This implies higher
accuracy of measurement.

In part B, we experiment with water volume by using a pipette. In this part, we also
need to calculate the mean and standard deviation of water volume. A pipette is another
apparatus that we can use to measure the water volume and it is more accurate than a
volumetric flask. This is because the pipette ranges from 1 mL to 10 mL with ±0.02 𝑚𝐿
uncertainty while the volumetric flask only contains the calibration mark of specific volume
of 50 mL with uncertainty of 0.05 mL. When we are using a pipette to measure the volume
solution that we want to use in the experiment, we need to make sure that we remove all the
air bubbles first because it will affect our volume measurement. To calculate the mean and
standard deviation for water volume, we need to find the water volume first by using the
density formula, d= mass(M) / volume(V). The mass of the water can be determined by
subtracting the beaker's mass from the total mass of the water and the beaker. We can get
the water density by measuring the water temperature. Finally, we calculate the water
volume by dividing the water mass by its density. It is important to change the unit first before
calculating the final answer. After we get the water volume of all three beakers, we can
calculate the mean and standard deviation by using the same formula as in part A. The
standard deviation that we calculated for part B is 0.036 which signifies higher precision in
the measurements.

Lastly in part C, we are using a burette to measure the water volume .Burette has a
range from 0.01 mL until 50.00 mL with uncertainty of ±0.05 𝑚𝐿 .By using a burette,we can
measure more water or solution at one time compare to pipette that can only measure until
10.00 mL only. It is also easy for us to get accurate amount of solution that we need in the
experiment because burette contain a stopcock which will control the liquid’s flow. We need
to pay attention during taking the volume reading because burette scale start from 0.00mL
at top and will end at 50.00mL at the bottom. We also need to remove all the air bubbles first
especially at the stopcock before start using the burette to take measurement. Same as part
A and B, we also need to calculate the mean and standard deviation with the same formula
for the water volume of the burette. First, we need to calculate the true volume with the
same steps in part A and B with the formula of density= mass(M) / volume (V). For the final
calculation, we get to know that the mean is 20.048 mL, and the standard deviation is 7.112.
The true volume is increasing from first take to second, third, fourth and fifth.

During the experiment, one of the sources or errors that we can identify is inaccurate
volume reading due to parallax error that involves the eyes position. The precaution step that
we need to take to overcome this error is we need to make sure our eyes are parallel to the
meniscus level before taking the volume reading.
 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the experiment on volumetric glassware calibration has yielded valuable

insights into the accuracy and precision of the laboratory equipment. Not just that, it also
teaches students the proper laboratory techniques to conduct experiments. It also tells us
that preparing for a lab experiment is important to ensure safety, efficiency, and better
results. The results indicate that the glassware used in this experiment provides consistent
and reliable measurements. This calibration process has proven crucial for ensuring the
quality and integrity of future experiments that rely on precise volumetric measurements. It
is recommended to regularly recalibrate the glassware to maintain its accuracy. Furthermore,
this experiment serves as a foundation for improving experimental techniques and enhancing
the reliability of volumetric measurements in the laboratory.

REFERENCES

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https://chem.libretexts.org/Ancillary_Materials/Demos_Techniques_and_E

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