MOHR's SALT

AIM (a) To prepare 250ml of M/20 solution of Mohrs

salt.
(b) Using this calculate the molarity and strength of the given
KMnO4 solution.

APPARATUS AND CHEMICALS REQUIRED- Mohrs salt, weighing bottle,

weight box, volumetric flask, funnel, distilled water, chemical balance, dilute
H2SO4, beakers, conical flask, funnel, burette, pipette, clamp stand, tile,
KMnO4 solution.

THEORY- (a) Mohrs salt having the formula FeSO4.(NH4)2SO4.6H2O has mola
mass 392gmol-1. It is a primary standard.
Its equivalent mass is 392/1 = 392 as its n factor is 1 as per the following
reaction:
Fe2+ Fe3+ + e-

PROCEDURE:
1. Weigh a clean dry bottle using a chemical balance.
2. Add 4.9g more weights to the pan containing the weights for the
weighing bottle.
3. Add Mohrs salt in small amounts to the weighing bottle, so that the
pans are balanced.
4. Remove the weighing bottle from the pan.
5. Using a funnel, transfer the Mohrs salt to the volumetric flask.
6. Add about 5ml. of dilute H2SO4 to the flask followed by distilled water
and dissolve the Mohrs salt.
7. Make up the volume to the required level using distilled water.

8. The standard solution is prepared.

(b) THEORY-

1. The reaction between KMnO4 and Mohrs salt is a redox reaction and th
titration is therefore called a redox titration.
2. Mohrs salt is the reducing agent and KMnO 4 is the oxidizing agent.
3. KMnO4 acts as an oxidizing agent in all the mediums; i.e. acidic, basic
and neutral medium.
4. KMnO4 acts as the strongest oxidizing agent in the acidic medium and
therefore dil. H2SO4 is added to the conical flask before starting the
titration.
IONIC EQUATIONS INVOLVED:
Reduction Half:

MnO4- + 8H+ + 5e- Mn2+ + 4H2O

Oxidation Half:

5Fe2+ 5Fe3+ + 5e-

Overall Equation: MnO4- + 8H+ + 5Fe2+ Mn2+ + 5Fe3+ + 4H2O

INDICATOR- KMnO4 acts as a self indicator.

END POINT- Colourless to light pink (KMnO4 in the burette)

PROCEDURE1.
2.
3.
4.
on it.

Fill the burette with KMnO4 solution.

Pipette out 10ml. of Mohrs salt solution into the conical flask.
Add half a test tube of dil. H2SO4.
Keep a glazed tile under the burette and place the conical flas

5.
Note down the initial reading of the burette.
6.
Run down the KMnO4 solution into the conical flask drop wise
with shaking.
7.
Stop the titration when a permanent pink colour is obtained in
the solution.
8.
This is the end point. Note down the final burette reading.
9.
Repeat the experiment until three concordant values are
obtained.
10.

OBSERVATION TABLE: (TO BE PUT UP ON THE BLANK SIDE USING A

PENCIL)
Volume of Mohrs salt solution taken =
S.N
o
TTE

BURE

INITIAL

READIN
GS
FINAL

VOLUME
OF KMnO4
USED (ml)

10

18.8

8.8

18.8

27.7

8.9

27.7

36.5

8.8

Concordant Value = 8.8mL

CALCULATIONS: (TO BE PUT UP ON THE BLANK SIDE USING A
PENCIL)
Calculation of amount of Mohrs Salt to be weighed to prepare 100ml M/20
solution:
Molecular Mass of Mohrs Salt = 392g/mole
1000 cm3 of 1M KMnO4 require 392g Mohrs Salt.

250 cm3 of M/40 KMnO4 require =392/40g = 4.9g

Using formula:
N1M1V1 = N2M2V2
Where N1=5 (for KMnO4), V1=8.8mL

, M1 =?

N2 =1 (for Mohrs salt), V2 = 10ml, M2 = 1/20M

M1 = [1*(1/20)*10]/[5*8.8] = 1/88M = 0.01M

Strength = M X Molar Mass = 158 *( 1/88) = 1.79g/L

RESULT- (ON RULED SIDE)- The Molarity of KMnO4 =

And the strength of KMnO4 =

0.01M
1.79g/L

Volumetric analysis 2
Volumetric Analysis Acid-Base Titration
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The organic compounds containing the acidic group are analyzed by this titration. This is based on the
neutralization reaction between acid and base. An acid-base indicator is used to detect the end point
which indicates the completion of reaction between acid and base by changing the color of the mixed
solution.
The selection of indicator is very important in acid-base titration because the equivalence point is
determined by the stoichiometric of the reaction whereas the endpoint is measured by changing the color
from indicator. The reaction is neutralized but it is not necessary to come to the end point at pH = 7. The
completion of the reaction depends on the strength of acid and base.

For example: The acid-base titration between HCl (strong acid) and NaOH (strong base) in which
phenolphthalein indicator is used.

Chemical reaction - HCl + NaOH NaCl + H2O

Similar titration between NH4OH (weak base) and HCl (strong acid) in which methyl orange is used as
indicator.

NH4OH +HCl NH4Cl + H2O

Steps for Acid base Titration

To determine the concentration of HCl, we take 20 ml of HCl and neutralize it with 0.150M of NaOH.
The steps for titration process are given below.
1. The titrant, NaOH solution of known concentration, is added from the burette.
2. 20ml HCl is taken in volumetric flask with the help of pipette and 2-3 drop of phenolphthalein
indicator is added.
3. The solution is color less due to the acidic medium.
4. The solution of NaOH is added to the HCl drop by drop. As it comes in the contact with HCl acid,
the color of solution becomes pink which quickly disappears. This is due to the formation of OHions from NaOH which reacts with indicator and changes the color. The solution becomes color
less again due to the neutralization of OH- ions with H+ ions (from HCl).
5. After adding more NaOH, the equivalence point of titration is reached when the equal number of
OH- ions and H+ ions react. At this point the pH of the solution in the flask is equal to 7 and the
indicator is colorless.
6. After this, adding more NaOH drop by drop in the solution makes the solution pink from color less
as the solution becomes basic now. So, indicator changes its color in basic medium. This
permanent change shows the end point of titration. Note this reading which is the volume of base
required to neutralize 20 ml of HCl acid. If 50ml is the volume of NaOH (end point reading from
burette).
Now to calculate the concentration of HCl ;
HCl + NaOH NaCl + H2O
the molar ratio is 1:1 for this reaction
So mole of HCl = moles of NaOH
(molarity = moles/ volume)

[Molarity x Volume] of acid = [Molarity x Volume] of base

M x 20 = 0.150 x 50 ml
M = 0.150 x 50 /20 = 0.375M is the concentration of acid HCl.

Indicators Used For Various Titration

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Strong Acid Against a Strong Base

For example, titration of HCl and NaOH. At the initial stage of titration, the pH changes very slowly and
increases up to pH= 4. But with addition of small amount of alkali like 0.01 mL approx., pH value reaches
to about 7. This shows the neutralization of acid. Further addition of small amount of alkali increases the
concentration of hydrogen ions and the pH value rises to about 9. There is a rapid increase of pH from
about 4 to 9 when the end point approaches. Indicators like methyl orange, methyl red and
phenolphthalein could be used for these kind of neutralization reactions which show the color change
within the pH range of 4 to 10.

Weak Acid against Strong Base

For example, titration of acetic acid against NaOH. The end point of this titration lies between pH 8 and 10
due to the formation of sodium acetate and water. So, phenolphthalein is a good indicator for this.

Strong Acid against Weak Base

For example, the titration of ammonium hydroxide with HCl. The end point is in the range of 6 to 4 which
shows the acidic pH of solution. Methyl orange is a good indicator for this titration.
Color change on acidic

Range of color

Color change on basic

side

change

side

Methyl Violet

Yellow

0.0 - 1.6

Violet

Bromophenol Blue

Yellow

3.0 - 4.6

Blue

Methyl Orange

Red

3.1 - 4.4

Yellow

Methyl Red

Red

4.4 - 6.3

Yellow

Litmus

Red

5.0 - 8.0

Blue

Yellow

6.0 - 7.6

Blue

Indicator

Bromo thymol
Blue

Phenolphthalein

Colorless

8.3 - 10.0

Pink

Alizarin Yellow

Yellow

10.1 - 12.0

Red

Methods to Determine the Endpoint

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1. pH indicator - This is a substance which shows the chemical change by changing the color.
2. A potentiometer - This is used to measure the electrode potential of the solution. These are
used for redox titration. They show the end point with changing potential of the working electrode.
3. pH meter - It is a ion-selective electrode. In pH meter the potential of electrode depends on the
amount of H+ ion present in the solution. The pH of the solution can be measured in the whole
titration. This gives more correct result than indicators.
4. Conductance - The conductivity of solutions is also changed in titration and it depends on the
ions present in the solution, mobility of ions and ions concentration.
5. Color change - In the redox reactions, the color of solution changes without use of indicator. This
is due to different oxidation states of the product.
The volumetric analysis can be categorized into four types which are based on the type of reaction
involved in the process.
Types

Chemicals to be analyzed

Reagents to be used

Indicators to be used

Acid / Base

acid or base

alkali or acid

pH indicator

compound containing
Precipitation

ion that form insoluble salt

the other ion needed to

conductivity

form the insoluble salt

Redox

oxidizing or reducing agent

Complexometric

metal ion that form complexes

reducing or

natural color change or

oxidizing agent

redox indicator

complexing agent

metal ion indicator

Precautions of Volumetric analysis

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Some important points should be remembered in doing volumetric analysis to get the accurate results.

1. All the equipments like burette, beaker, pipette and volumetric flask should be washed properly
with distilled water before taking them in use as the presence of any other chemical can be the
reason for wrong measurement.
2. The process of filling the pipette should be accurate to avoid excess addition of solutions.
3. The flask should be shaking well after adding the indicator and also the titration flask with addition
of each drop of solution from burette.
4. The addition of acid should be drop wise.
5. Contamination should be avoided.
6. The indicator should not be used in excess.
7. The flask should be removed as the indicator changes color.
8. Sometimes, an air bubble in the nozzle of the burette can be the reason for altering the readings,
so, it must be removed before taking the initial reading.
9. The burette should not be leaked during titration.
10. Keep eyes in the level of the liquid surface during the time of taking the burette reading or
measuring flask and pipette etc.
11. Lower meniscus and upper meniscus are always read in case of color less and colored solutions
respectively.
12. Do not blow through the pipette to expel the last drop of solution from it; simply touch the inner
surface of the titration flask with the nozzle of the pipette for this purpose.
13. Index finger should be used for pi-petting the solution.

Volumetric Analysis Problems

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Below you could see problem

Solved Examples
Question 1: Calculate the concentration of HCl acid if 50ml of HCl is required to neutralize 25ml of 1.00M
NaOH in acid base titration.
Solution:

HCl + NaOH -> NaCl + H2O in this chemical reaction the molar ratio is 1:1 between
HCl and NaOH. So mole of HCl = moles of NaOH

[molarity = moles/volume]
MHCl x volume of HCl = MNaOH x volume of NaOH
MHCl = $\frac{M_{NAOH}

\times volume\ of\ NaOH} {volume\ of\ HCl}$

MHCl = 25.00ml1.00M50.00ml
MHCl = 0.50 M HCl
So the concentration of HCl is 0.50 M.

Question 2: The titration curve of ammonia and HCl are given below. Find out all the unknown species A,
B, C and D.

Solution:
At point A, the pH is highly basic so its NH3. At point B, NH3 and NH4 + ammonium ions are in
the buffering region.
C = NH4+. This is equivalence point at which all the NH3 has been protonated and water molecules starts
to take acidic protons.
D =H3O+ more acidic solution.
A = NH3
B = NH3 and NH4+ buffering solution
C = NH4+
D = H3O+

Question 3: Find out the molecular weight of the unknown mono protic acid whose 5 gm is neutralized
with 26.23 ml of a 1.008 M NaOH solution in 150.2 ml of solution.
Solution:
Moles of NaOH = Molarity of NaOH x Volume of NaOH
So moles of NaOH = 1.008 x .02623 = 0.026439moles
As the acid is mono protic so the molar ratio of acid and base is 1:1.
So mole of mono protic acid = moles of NaOH

Moles of acid = 0.026439 moles.

Mole=massmolecular mass
So molecular mass = massmole
Molecular mass of unknown mono protic acid =

50.026439 = 189.1 gm/mole.

Question 4: If the 20 ml of an unknown acid is required 30ml of 0.125 N NaOH to get the equivalence
point. Find out the normality of the unknown acid.
Solution:
equivalents of acid = equivalents of base
Vacid Nacid = Vbase Nbase
So Nacid = (30.0ml)(0.125N)(20.0ml)= 0.1875 N

experiment 3

ALCOHOL

Preliminary Test:Experiment

Observation

Added bromine water to

solution

No Effect
Or
Pink colour of Bromine
water changed to
colourless.

Inference
Compound is saturated.
Or
Compound is unsaturated.

Confirmatory Test:Experiment
Warmed with acetic acid
and a few drops of
concentrated sulphuric
acid.

Observation
Fruity smell is formed.

Chemical Equations:R3C-CR3 + Br2 No Effect

OR
R2C=CR2 + Br2 BrR2C-CR2Br

CH3COOH + ROH CH3COOR + H2O

Exp. 4

ALDEHYDE
Preliminary Test:-

Inference
Alcohol confirmed.