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Determination of an Equilibrium Constant

Maureen Fitzpatrick
1160907
Partner: Emma ONeill
1144852
Chem 1E03 Lab 60
November 18, 2011

Pre-lab Questions:
i)

The spectrophotometer must be calibrated because the device measures the


absorbency of the solution relative to the calibrated wavelength in order to
give a certain ratio. The line is the series of intensities measured by the
spectrophotometer.

ii)

Fe3+ + SCN- FeSCN2+


Fe3+

SCN-

FeSCN2+

0.00200M

0.00300M

0M

-x

-x

+x

2.00x10-3M - x

3.00x10-3 - x

2.70x10-4

Kc= [FeSCN2+]/[Fe3+][SCN-]
Kc= x/(2.00x10-3-x)(3.00x10-3-x)
Kc= 2.70x10-4/(2.00x10-3 2.70x10-4)(3.00x10-3 2.70x10-4)
Kc= 57.2
Purpose:
The purpose of this lab is to calculate the equilibrium constant Kc for the reaction Fe3+ +
SCN- FeSCN2+ for several concentrations of reactants.
Procedure:
Please refer to the Chem 1A03, 1E03, and 1AA3 Lab Manual 2011-2012 for the
procedure (experiment Determination of an Equilibrium Constant for a Chemical
Reaction)
Part A:
Test Tube #

Volume of

Volume of

Absorbance
2+

of FeSCN2+

0.00200M

0.200M

KSCN (mL)

Fe(NO3) (ml)

1.0

49.0

0.254

0.00004

2.0

48.0

0.408

0.00008

3.0

47.0

0.615

0.00012

Sample Calculations:

FeSCN (nm)

Concentration

(M)

Concentration of KSCN=C1= 0.00200M


Volume of KSCN=V1= 0.0010L
Concentration of FeSCN2+=C2= ?
Volume of Fe SCN2+= V2= 0.050L
C1V1 =C2V2
C2=C1V1/V2
C2= (0.00200M)(0.0010L)/0.050L
C2=0.00004M
The concentration of the FeSCN2+ ions is the same as the concentration of the SCN- ions
because we assume the reaction goes to completion.

Absorbance vs. Concentration of FeSCN


0.7
Absorbance (nm)

0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0

0.00002

0.00004

0.00006
0.00008
Concentration (M)

0.0001

0.00012

0.00014

The slope of the line is equal to the K value in the equilibrium reaction.
Slope= K=5205.4
Part B:
Test Tube Number
Volume
KSCN (mL)
Volume
Fe(NO3)3(mL)
Volume H2O
(mL)
Absorbance
(nm)

0.107

0.235

0.341

0.482

0.552

Sample Calculations:
Using the K value calculated above, the concentrations of FeSCN for were determined.
A=KC
C=A/K
C = 0.107 / 5205.4
C = 2.06x10-5
For KSCN:
C = n/ Vinitial

Cfinal=n/Vfinal

n = C Vinitial

Cfinal=(2.00x10-6mol)/0.01L

n = (0.00200 M) (0.001 L)

Cfinal=2.00x10-4M

n = 2.00 x 10-6mol
Simlar calculations were done to find the concentrations of Fe(NO3)3.
x = 2.06 x 10-5
I
C
E

Fe3+
1.00 x 10-3
-x
1.00 x 10-3 - x

SCN2.00 x 10-4
-x
2.00 x 10-4 - x

[Fe3+] = 1.00 x 10-3 - 2.06x 10-5


[Fe3+] = 9.79 x 10-4 M

FeSCN2+
0
x
-5
2.80 x 10
[SCN-] = 2.00 x 10-4 - 2.06 x 10-5
[SCN-] = 1.79 x 10-4 M

Kc = [FeSCN2+] / [Fe3+] [SCN-]


Kc = x/(1.00x10-3 - x)(2.00x10-4 - x)
Kc = 2.06x10-5/(1.00x10-3 - 2.06x10-5)(2.00x10-4 - 2.06x10-5)
Kc= 118

Test
Tube #
1

Concentration of
KSCN
1.79 x 10-4
-4

Concentration of
Fe(NO3)3
9.79 x 10-4

118

-4

4.51 x 10-5

133

Kc

3.55 x 10

5.34 x 10-4

9.35 x 10-4

6.55 x 10-5

131

7.07 x 10

-4

9.07 x 10

-4

9.26 x 10-5

144

8.94 x 10

-4

8.94 x 10

-4

1.06 x 10-4

133
Average Kc = 132

4
5

9.55 x 10

Concentration of
FeSCN2+
2.06 x 10-5

Discussion:
In Part A, we measure the absorbencies of a solution with a small amount of a
0.00200M solution of KSCN and a large amount of Fe(NO3)3. We use a lot of Fe3+ and
only a small amount of SCN-, which forces the reaction to proceed completely to the
right, allowing us to make the assumption that all of the SCN- that we put into the
solution reacts. This means that the concentration of SCN- is equal to the concentration of
FeSCN2+.
In Part B, we do not force the reaction to proceed to completion therefore we must
calculate the concentration of FeSCN2+ by finding the equilibrium constants for each
reaction and measuring the absorbency of each solution. We calculated the equilibrium
constant, Kc, to be 132. The Kc values for each reaction are not the same because of
sources of error in the lab. One source of error is human error in the readings of the
measurements. Another source of error is due to the amount of water in the test tubes
which would affect the concentration of the solutions.

Conclusion:
The calculated Kc value for the reaction SCN-+Fe3+FeSCN2+ is 132.

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