Acid Base Lab

Determination of CaCo3 in toothpaste

Arisara Ketnute
Kamolporn Ittisurasing
Noramon Khamton
Janakorn Chummuang
11-3
Introduction:
Calcium Carbonate is a chemical compound with the formula CaCO 3, it contains
the Ca2+ and CO32- ions, they are very common substances, which can be found in
rocks, seashells, pearls, corals, eggshells, and etc. [1] Calcium carbonate is created by
the reaction of an aqueous solution of phosphotungstic acid and Ca 2+ ions with CO2.
Calcium Carbonate is used widely as paper, plastics, personal healthcare such as
Antacid and toothpaste, food production, building materials and construction. [2]
Titration is the process of adding two solutions slowly, the solution that we know
concentration(titrant) into another solution that we know its volume and want to find out
its concentration. This addition continues until it reaches neutralization or end point
which usually determined by indicator such as phenolphthalein. [3] Titration use the
theory of acid-base, relationship of moles, volumes, concentrations and redox reaction.
Toothpaste is a substance, which is used with toothbrush for cleaning purpose
and maintaining oral health.There are two kinds of toothpaste; gel and paste.
Toothpaste usually contain fluoride in form of NaF for prevent tooth and gum disease,
calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as abrasive for eradicate plaque from the teeth, Salt (NaCl)
and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3).
Objective:
-Determine the percentage by mass of CaCO 3 in toothpaste using the acid-base titration
in the solution.
-Understand how to calculate back titration.

-Learn about acid-base application in daily life.

Hypothesis:
If there is more acid than the base, then the amount of the total acid deducted by acid
leftover is the total amount of NaOH in the solution.
Materials:
-

3x 125 mL Erlenmeyer Flasks (Conical Flask)

1x spatula
1x stand with double buret holder
1x buret
1x stir bar
1x pH meter
1x graduated cylinder

Methods:
1. Put 125 mL Erlenmeyer on scale, zero scale.
2. Weigh out about 0.5 g of toothpaste, using spatula, directly into 125 mL
Erlenmeyer flask.
3. Using a 10 mL graduated cylinder, add 10 mL of distilled water to the
toothpaste.
4. Using a 10.0 mL volumetric pipette, pipette exactly 10.0 mL of 0.10 M HCl
into toothpaste/water solution. (For our group, we use 20.0 mL of 0.10 M HCl
because the initial pH of toothpaste is too high).
5. Add a stir bar, heat and stir for 5 minutes on hot plate, then remove from
heat and let cool to the touch.
6. Add a few drops of Phenolphthalein indicator.
7. Start adding your titrant (0.10 M NaOH in buret) slowly, check the pH after
every 1 mL of titrant added. Record both the volume and pH. When solution
starts to turn pink but return to transparent, clear after swirling, add slower (dropwise perhaps).
8. After end point has been reached, record the final pH and final volume.
9. Continue adding titrant, an additional 4 mL of titrant. Again checking the
pH after every 1 mL has been added. Record the pH and each volume each time.
10. Repeat experiment 2 more times. This will give total of 3 separate
titrations.

11. Dispose of your waste in large beaker provided, do not dispose of down
the drain. Leave left over NaOH solution in buret after use.
Data/Results:
Table 1: Determination of CaCo3 in toothpaste.
Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

0.75

0.90

0.77

Initial

6.41

5.84

6.48

Final

7.95

8.16

11.25

Volume of

Initial (mL)

19.20

21.10

22.21

NaOH (mL)

Final (mL)

21.10

22.21

29.02

Total (mL)

1.90

1.11

6.81

Total Vol. of HCl used (mL)

20

20

20

Vol. HCl reacted with

18.10

18.89

13.19

Moles HCL reacted

1.810*10-3

1.889*10-3

1.319*10-3

Moles CaCO3

9.05*10-4

9.45*10-4

6.595*10-4

Amount CaCO3 (mg)

90.50

94.45

65.95

Amount CaCO3 (mg/g)*

120.67

104.94

85.65

Weight toothpaste (g)

pH

toothpaste

Average CaCO3 (mg/g)

103.75

*milligrams of CaCO3 per gram of toothpaste.

Table 2 : Change of pH as 1 mL of NaOH is added in sample 3.
Initial Vol.

22.21

23.10

24.00

25.01

26.00

26.98

28.00

23.10

24.00

25.01

26.00

26.98

28.00

29.02

0.89

0.90

1.01

0.99

0.98

1.02

1.02

(mL)
Final Vol.
(mL)
Total Vol.

(mL)
Initial pH

6.48

8.00

8.61

9.02

9.51

10.08

10.82

Final pH

8.00

8.61*

9.02

9.51

10.08

10.82

11.25

*the solution turn pink.

pH Graph &

Photos

Discussion:
1. What was the purpose of heating the solution?
- To make the solution of CaCo3 and HCl react with each other
faster, enough to see the changes in the experiment time, and to make
sure that all of CaCo3 in the toothpaste fully react with the acid. Another
main reason is to give the CaCo3 the opportunity to dissolve in water
because normally, toothpaste does not dissolve in water, and by heating,
we release CO.
2. Why was the acid added in excess?
- The acid is the main compound as it will neutralize the base
as we add it. The reason that we add acid in excess is to make sure that it
will react with all of the base in the solution, then we can add some other
base again to neutralize and to be able to calculate the amount of CaCo 3

3. What is an end point? What is an equivalence point?

- The end point is the point that indicator change the color
permanently. The equivalence point is the point that acid and base mixed
in equivalently and results in neutral state.
4. Why did the solutions turn pink around a pH of 8-9?
- Because pH around 8-9 is the end point or equivalence point
and the solution will turn to base.
5. Why were 3 replicates performed?
- Because we need to compare the solutions that we
experimented 3 times with each solution and to check if we get the
accurate results. If there is only 1 solution, then there would be no other
solutions that we could compare and check if we made any mistake. This
is very important in almost every science experiments.
Conclusion:
CaCO3 + 2HCl > CaCl2 + CO2 + H2O
Our hypothesis is correct by observing on the data we collected. By adding
excess amount of acid to a base, add indicator, then add base until it changes color.
This observation proves that the amount of the total acid added deducted by the amount
of leftover acid is equal to the total amount of the initial base. To sum it up, we can find
the initial amount of base by finding the amount of NaOH we added until the solution
changed its color, then find the difference between HCl and NaOH.
There are errors in our experiment. While we were experimenting on the first
solution, we forget to put in phenolphthalein(indicator) before we add NaOH, after we
recognize our mistake, we found that the solution has already become basic. Other than
doing a new solution, we solved the mistake by adding 10 more mL of HCl into every
solution to make the first solution to be neutral again. This gives us the opportunity to
save more time from our mistake, although that we need to change every information
about the amount of HCl in every solution to 20mL.
References:
Introduction -

[1]

Naka, K. Biomineralization I. New York: Springer Science & Business Media, 2007.

62. Print.
[2]

Industrial Minerals Association - North America. (ND). What Is Calcium Carbonate?

[Online]. Available: http://www.ima-na.org/?page=what_is_calcium_carb [5-March-2015]

[3]

ChemWik. (ND). Titration [Online] Available:

http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Analytical_Chemistry/Quantitative_Analysis/Titration [5March-2015]
Toothpaste tested -

Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief. Colgate-Palmolive (Thailand) Ltd., Chonburi, 700/362

Bangna-Trad Thailand, Lot no. 280214TH702M.