Austin Peay State University Department of Chemistry

CHEM 1011

TitrationofHydrochloricAcidwithSodiumHydroxide
Cautions:
Hydrochloricacidsolutionisastrongacid.Sodiumhydroxidesolutionisastrong
base.Bothareharmfultoskinandeyes.Affectedareasshouldbewashedthoroughlywith
copiousamountsofwater.
Purpose:
Thepurposeofthislabistodeterminetheconcentrationofahydrochloricacid
solutionusingacidbasetitration.
Background:Titrationisatechniquethatchemistsusetodeterminetheunknown
concentrationofaknownsolution(weknowwhatchemicalisdissolved,butnothowmuchina
solution).Becauseweknowwhatthechemicalis,weknowhowitwillreactwithother
chemicalsandwecanusethatreactiontodeterminetheconcentrationofthesolutionby
measuringtheformationofproduct(s).Inthecaseofanunknownconcentrationofacid,we
canuseaknownconcentrationofhydroxidebase.Thistypeofreactionisaneutralization
reaction,wheresaltandwaterareproductsofthereaction:
Acid+BaseSalt+H2O
WecanuseapHindicator,achemicalthatchangescolordependingonthepH,toshow
uswhenthereactionhascompletelyneutralized.Thispoint,whereallacidwasconsumedand
thereisnoexcessofbase,iscalledtheequivalencepoint.Wecanusethisequivalencepointto
determinetheinitialconcentrationofacidusingaseriesofcalculations.Thegoalofthe
titrationistogetascloseaspossibletotheequivalencepointbycarefuladditionofthebase;
thiswillensurethecalculatedacidconcentrationisasclosetothetruevalueaspossible.You
willdothreetitrationsandaveragethetrials.
Thetermsbelowwillhelpyouunderstandtheterminologyusedthroughoutthe
experiment:

Titrantthesolutionofknownconcentrationisalsocalledthestandardizedsolution.In
thislab,thetitrantissodiumhydroxidesolution.
Buretalong,cylindricalpieceofglassthatcanbeusedtodeterminesmall,accurate
quantitiesofasolution.Aburetiscontrolledbyastopcock,awhiteTeflonpiecethat
canbeturnedtodeliverthesolution.Themarkingsontheburetaresuchthatyoumust
subtracttheinitialreading(wherethetitrantlevelisinitially)fromthefinalreadingto
determinethevolumeofbasedelivered.Theburetmeasures2digitsafterthedecimal
pointaccurately.
Volumetricpipette/pipettebulbathinglasstubewithonlyonemarkingusedto
measureaveryspecificvolumeofliquid.Youwilluseapipettebulbtodrawtheliquid
intothepipette.

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Austin Peay State University Department of Chemistry

CHEM 1011

TitrationofHydrochloricAcidwithSodiumHydroxide

PhenolphthaleinapHindicator.Inacidicandneutralsolutions,theindicatoris
colorless,butinabasicsolution,thecolorisavibrantpink.ThehigherthepHis,the
strongerthepinkcoloris.Theequivalencepointwillbewhenthecolorisaveryfaint
pinkcolor.Keepyourflaskwithacidandindicatoroverawhitepieceofpapertoensure
youcanseethecolorchange.

Materials:
50mLBuretwithclamp
Phenolphthaleinindicator
125mLor250mLErlenmeyerflasks
Buretfunnel
250mLbeaker
25mLvolumetricpipette
Pipettebulb

Alsoofimportanceintitrationsarethecalculationsyouneedtodeterminetheunknown
concentrationoftheacid.Thesecalculationsareoutlinedbelow.Youmaywanttoreferto
yournotesfromlectureforadditionalexamples.
Determinationofmolesofbasedelivered:Aftereachtitration,youwillneedto
determinethenumberofmolesofsodiumhydroxideused.First,youwillneedtoknow
themolarityofthesolution(thesolutionhasbeenpreviouslystandardized,meaningit
hasaveryaccuratemolaritythathasbeenexperimentallydetermined).Writethis
downwhenyoustartthetitration.Next,youmustdeterminethevolumeofthe
solutiondeliveredtoreachtheequivalencepoint.Next,youwillfindthemolesofbase
usedinthetitration:

*NotethatthevolumeofbaseisinL,notinmL
DeterminenumberofmolesofHClinflask:Ifyouwritethebalancedreactionforthe
neutralizationofsodiumhydroxideandhydrochloricacid,youwillseethatthereaction
proceedsina1:1fashion.Thatis,foreveryhydroxide(OH)ionadded,itcanneutralize
exactlyonehydronium(H+)ion.Thisisnotalwaysthecaseforneutralizationreactions,
andisthusnotalwaysthecaseforacidbasetitrations.Thegeneralformulaisbelow,
wherethedeterminedmolesofbasefromtheequationabovearemultipliedbythe
stoichiometricratiofoundbylookingatthebalancedequation:
#

1
#

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Austin Peay State University Department of Chemistry

CHEM 1011

TitrationofHydrochloricAcidwithSodiumHydroxide

Determinationofacidconcentration:Nowthatyouknowthenumberofmolesofacid
intheflask(atthestartofthetitration,bytheend,thereisonlywaterandsalt),youcan
determineitsinitialconcentration.Becauseyouknowtheinitialvolumeofacidused,
youcanusethefollowingtodeterminetheconcentration:

Procedure:Youwilldoatleastthreetitrations.Ifyouaddtoomuchbaseandthesolutionis
toobrightpink,youwillneedtodiscardthedataanddoanotherrun.Also,ifyourtitrationsare
greaterthan1%differentfromeachother,youwillneedtoconductadditionaltitrations.
(4columnsofdataareprovidedforthesepurposes.)Patienceinthislabwillpreventyoufrom
havingtodoextratrials!!!
1. Recordthemolarityofthesodiumhydroxidesolutiononthedatasheet
2. Obtainabout100mLofthesodiumhydroxidesolutioninacleanbeaker.Thisshouldbe
enoughfortheinitialcleaningofyourburetandforyourfirst3trials.
3. Cleanyourburet:Addabout5mLofthebasesolutionfromthebeakertotheburet
(useafunneltopour).Movethefunnelaroundwhileaddingtoensurethesidesofthe
buretarecoatedwithbase.Alternatively,youcanremovetheburetwiththe5mLof
titrantfromtheburetstandandcarefullytiltandrotatetocoatallinteriorsurfaceswith
thetitrant.Drainthesolutionthroughthestopcockintoawastebeaker.Repeatthis
rinsewithasecond5mLportionofbase.
4. Pourmoreofthesodiumhydroxidesolutionintotheburetuntilitisnearthe0.00mL
mark.Openthestopcocktoallowseveraldropstorinsethroughthetipoftheburet.
Thisshouldeliminateanyairbubblesintheburettip.Recordyourinitialburetreading
onthedatasheetfortrial1(thevolumedoesnotneedtobeexactly0.00mL).
5. Draw25.00mLoftheacidsolutionintothevolumetricpipetteandtransferthissolution
intoanErlenmeyerflask.Add23dropsofphenolphthaleintotheacidsolutioninthe
flask.
6. PlacetheflaskundertheburetandstartaddingthebasesolutiontotheErlenmeyer
flask.Haveonelabpartnerswirltheflaskwhiletheothercontrolsthestopcock.When
pinkstartstodevelop,addthesolutionmoreslowly.Atthispointyoushouldaddone
dropatatimefollowedbyswirlinguntilaverylightpinkcolorpersistsforatleast30
seconds.Remember,thelighterthepinkthebetter!!!
7. Recordthefinalreadingoftheburet.Washthecontentsoftheflaskdownthedrain
withwater.

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Austin Peay State University Department of Chemistry

CHEM 1011

TitrationofHydrochloricAcidwithSodiumHydroxide
8. Refilltheburetwithmoresodiumhydroxidesolutionifnecessary.Recordthenew
volumeundertrial2onthedatasheet.Pipetteanothersampleofacidandaddthe
phenolphthaleinasbeforeandtitrateasbefore.
9. Conductadditionaltitrationsuntilthreeofthemdifferbynomorethan1.0%.
10. Completethedatasheetandpostlabquestions.Showyourworkforfullcredit!!!

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Austin Peay State University Department of Chemistry

CHEM 1011

TitrationofHydrochloricAcidwithSodiumHydroxide
DATASHEET
*Attachallofyourcalculationsforfullcredit

Name:____________________________LabPartner:________________________________

Concentrationofsodiumhydroxide:__________________M

BalancedChemicalEquationofthetitrationreaction:

Trial1

Trial2

Trial3

Trial4

Initialburetvolume(mL)

Finalburetvolume(mL)

Volumeofbase(mL)

Volumeofbase(L)

Molesofbase(mol)

AcidtoBaseMoleRatio

Molesofacid(mol)

Volumeofacid(L)

Acidconcentration(M)

Averageconcentration(M)

PercentDifference

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Austin Peay State University Department of Chemistry

CHEM 1011

TitrationofHydrochloricAcidwithSodiumHydroxide
POSTLABQUESTIONS
Name:____________________________LabPartner:________________________________

1.Howwoulditaffectyourresultsifyouusedabeakerwithresidualwaterinittomeasureout
yourstandardizedsodiumhydroxidesolution?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

2.HowwoulditaffectyourresultsifyouusedawetErlenmeyerflaskinsteadofadryone
whentransferringyouracidsolutionfromthevolumetricpipette?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

3.Howdoyoutellifyouhaveexceededtheequivalencepointinyourtitration?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

4.Vinegarisasolutionofaceticacid(CH3COOH)inwater.Forqualitycontrolpurposes,itcan
betitratedusingsodiumhydroxidetoassureaspecific%composition.If25.00mLofacetic
acidistitratedwith9.08mLofastandardized2.293Msodiumhydroxidesolution,whatisthe
molarityofthevinegar?

Vinegarmolarity:____________________________

5.Forthesamedatainquestion4above,whatisthe%composition(wt/wt%)?

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Vinegar%composition:_______________________
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Austin Peay State University Department of Chemistry

CHEM 1011

TitrationofHydrochloricAcidwithSodiumHydroxide
PRELAB
*Showallofyourworkforfullcredit

Name:_____________________________________
1.Howwillyouknowwhenyourtitrationisfinished?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2.LabelthepHscalebelowwithacid,base,andneutral,indicatingnumbersforeach.

3.Onthescaleabove,useanarrowtoshowwhereyourequivalencepointislocated.
4.Writetheneutralizationreactionthatoccursbetweenhydrobromicacid(HBr)andlithium
hydroxide(LiOH).

5.Whatistheconcentrationof10.00mLofHBrifittakes16.73mLofa0.253MLiOHsolution
toneutralizeit?

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