ABSTRACT

Acetic acid or ethanoic acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH 3COOH. It is
a colourless liquid that also one of the component in the vinegar apart from water. The molarity
of acetic acid in this experiment is determined by titration method with standardized sodium
hydroxide, NaOH solution. Titration method is used to determine the end point of solution. The
end point is the condition of the solution that has been neutralized. This experiment consists of
two parts, for the first part the KHP solution is titrated with NaOH solution. To get the accurate
result, the titration is repeated trice. From the result, the graph pf pH versus volume NaOH Is
plotted to. At the end of the experiment, the molarity and the percent by mass of acetic acid can
be determined. For the first part of experiment, the average molarity of NaOH is 0.5880 M. For
the second part of experiment, average molarity of acetic acid is 1.81724 M and the percent by
mass obtained is 10.91%.

1. INTRODUCTION

Concentration is the main parameters measured in this experiment. Concentration of solution is

the amount of solute in a given amount of solvent. Concentration can also be expressed as the
abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. The term concentration can
be applied to any kind of chemical mixture, but most frequently it refers to solutes and solvents
in solutions. Besides, dilute solutions contain relatively little solute in a given amount of solvent.
Basically, there are two specifics term to express concentration, which is molarity and percent
by mass.

Molarity ( M )=

moles of solute(mol)
liter of solutions(L)

Percent solute=

gram os solute (g)

100
mass of solution (g)

Acetic acid or ethanoic acid is an organic compound with chemical formula of CH 3COOH. It is
one of the components in vinegar apart of the water. An acid is a compound which releasing
hydrogen ion (H+) and its lowering the pH value of solution. Besides, base is a compound which
releasing hydroxide ions (OH-) and increasing the pH value of the solutions. Sodium hydroxide
with chemical formula of NaOH is the example of base. In this experiment, acid-base titration is
used to measure the concentration of acetic acid in the vinegar. A titration is a process in which
small increment of a solution of known concentration are added to a specific volume of a
solution of unknown concentration until the stoichiometry for that reaction is attained. The
purpose of titration is to determine the equivalence point of the reaction which occurs when the
added quantity of one reactant is the eact amount necessary for stoichometry reaction with
another reactant. The equivalent point is reach when the added quantity of one reactant is the
exact amount necessary for stoichimetry reaction with another reactant. Since vinegar is an acid,

sodium hydroxide is use to titrate the acid. Lastly, molarity and percent by mass of acetic acid
can be determined from the concentration of the vinegar.
2. OBJECTIVE

The objective of this experiment is to determine the molarity of a solution and the percent by
mass of acetic acid in vinegar by titration with the standardized sodium hydroxide solution.

3. THEORY

A burette is used in titration process to dispense a small, quantifiable increment of solution of

known concentration. In this experiment, acid is added using the burette until the reaction is
complete. Commonly, pH meter is used to determine the end point of the solution. The end point
is the condition of the solution that has been neutralized. In this experiment, the equivalent point
occurs when the moles of acid in the solution equals to the moles of base added in titration. For
example, the stoichiometric amount of one mole of the strong base, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is
necessary to neutralize one mole of weak acid which is acetic acid (HC 2H3O2) as indicated in
equation below.
NaOH(aq) + HC2H3O2(aq) NaCH3CO2(aq) + H2O(l)

(Equation 3-1)

The change in the pH of the solution from acid value to neutral value shows that the titration has
reached the equivalence point. The volume of based required to completely neutralized the acid
is determined at the equivalence point of titration. The pH in an aqueous solution is related to its
hydrogen ion concentration. The hydrogen ion is written as [H 3O+]. pH is defined as the negative
logarithm of the hydrogen ions concentration.
pH = -log [H3O+]

(Equation 3-2)

The pH scale is a method of expressing the acidity or basicity of a certain solution. Solution
having a pH less than 7 are acidic, pH equal to 7 are neutral, and pH more than 7 are basic. Ph
3

electrode is used in this experiment and the titration is initiated by inserting pH electrode into a
beaker containing the acid and the pH should be within 3 to 5. As sodium hydroxide is
incrementally added to the acid solution, some of the hydrogen ions will be neutralized. The pH
of the solution will gradually increase as the hydrogen ions concentration decreases. When
sufficient sodium hydroxide is added to completely neutralize the acid, most of the H 3O+ ions are
removed from the solutions.
The titration method of vinegar with a standardized sodium hydroxide solution is done in this
experiment. A primary standard acid solution is initially prepared to standardize the sodium
hydroxide solution. Primary standard solutions are produce by dissolving a weighed quantity of
pure acid or base in a known volume of solution. Commonly used primary standard acid is
Potassium hydrogen phthalate, KHC8H4O4 (KHP) and oxalic acid (COOH)2. To standardize one
of these acid or based solutions, titration with primary standard method should be done. In this
experiment, base solution, sodium hydroxide solution will be titrated with potassium hydrogen
phthalate (KHP). The equation for the reaction will be:
KHC8H4O4(aq) + NaOH(aq) KNaC8H4O4(aq) +H2O(l)

(Equation 3-3)

After the sodium hydroxide solution has been standardizes, it will be used to titrate 10.00mL
aliquots of vinegar. The equation for the reaction will be:
CH3COOH(aq) + NaOH(aq) NaCH3COO(aq) + H2O(l) (Equation 3-4)

Part A: Sample calculation for standardizing of sodium hydroxide solution, NaOH with KHP.
Determine the molarity of sodium hydroxide solution.

Calculate the moles of KHP used in the titration.

1 mol KHP
1.523 g KHP
=0.0074458 mol KHP
204.2 g KHP

Calculate the no of moles of NaOH required to neutralizing the moles of KHP

4

0.007458 mol KHP

1mol NaOH
=0.007458 mol NaOH
1 mol KHP

Calculate the molarity of NaOH solution.

1L
15.30 mL NaOH
=0.01530 L NaOH
1000 mL
M=

mol 0.007458 mol NaOH 0.4875 mol NaOH

=
=
=0.4875 M NaOH
L
0.01539 L NaOH
L

Part B: sample calculation of acetic acid concentration in vinegar by titration with

standard base:
A 10.00 mL aliquot of vinegar requires 16.95 mL ot the 0.4875 M standardized NaOH
solution to reach the equivalence point of titration. Calculate the molarity and the percent
by mass of acetic acid in the solution. Assume the density of vinegar solutions is 1.00
g/mL.

Calculate the no of moles of NaOH that reacted.

16.95 mL NaOH

1L
=0.01695 L NaOH
1000 mL

0.01695 L NaOH

0.4875 mol NaOH

=0.008263 mol NaOH
L

Calculate the moles of acetic acid neutralized by the moles of sodium hydroxide.
1 mol acetic acid
0.008263 mol NaOH
=0.008263 mol acetic acid
1 mol NaOH

Calculate the molarity of acetic acid solution.

1L
10 mL acetic acid
=0.01 L acetic acid
1000 mL
M=

mol 0.008263 mol acetic acid

=
=0.8263 M acetic acid
L
0.01 L acetic acid

Calculate the mass of acetic acid in the solution.

5

10 mL acetic acid

1L
=0.01 L acetic acid
1000 mL

0.01 L acetic acid

0.8263 mol acetic acid

=0.008263 mol acetic acid
L

0.008263 mol acetic acid

60.06 g acetic acid

=0.4963 g acetic acid
mol

Calculate the mass of acetic acid solution.

1 g acetic acid solution
10 mL acetic acid
=10 g acetic acid solution
mL

percent mass acetic acid=

g acetic acid
100
g acetic acid solution

percent mass aceti c acid=

0.4693 g acetic acid

100 =4.693
10 g acetic acid solution

4. MATERIALS AND APPARATUS

Material
0.6 sodium hydroxide, NaOH solution
Distilled water
Potassium hydrogen phthalate, KHP
Vinegar

Apparatus
250 mL beaker
Volumetric flask
Burette and clamp
10 mL pipette
Analytic balance
pH meter
Spatula

5. PROCEDURE
Part A: Standardization of sodium hydroxide solution
1. 250 mL of approximately 0.6 M sodium hydroxide solution was prepared in the beaker
by using 5.999 g of NaOH solid and 250 mL of distilled water.
2. A 250 mL beaker was weighed by using analytical balance and the mass of the beaker
was recorded to the nearest 0.001 g.
6

3. After that, 1.5 g of KHP was added to the beaker. The mass of the beaker and KHP was
recorded to the nearest 0.001 g.
4. The mass of KHP was calculated by difference and the data was recorded.
5. A 30 mL of distilled water was added to the beaker that contains KHP. The solution was
stirred until the KHP was completely dissolved.
6. The KHP solution was titrated with NaOH and the pH of the solution was recorded with
1 mL additions of NaOH solution.
7. Step 1 until 6 were repeated two times to standardize the NaOH solution.
8. The graph of pH versus NaOH was plotted. The volume of NaOH required neutralizing
the KHP solution in each titration was determined from the graph plotted.
9. The molarity and average molarity of sodium hydroxide for titration 1, 2 and 3 was
calculated.
10. The result of sodium hydroxide concentration was used in part B of the experiment.

Part B: Molarity of acetic acid and percent by mass of vinegar.

1. 10.00mL of vinegar was transferred into a clean and dry 250 mL beaker by using 10 mL
volumetric pipette.
2. About 75 to 100 mL of water was added to the beaker to cover the pH electrode tip
during the titration.
3. The vinegar solution was titrated with NaOH and the pH was recorded with 1 mL
addition of NaOH solution.
4. Steps 1 to 3 were repeated for second and third trial of titration.
5. The graph of pH versus volume of NaOH was plotted. The volume of NaOH required to
neutralize vinegar in each titration was determined from the graph plotted and the data
was recorded.
6. The molarity and average molarity of acetic acid in vinegar for titration 1 , 2 and 3 was
calculated.
7. The percent by mass of acetic acid in vinegar for titration 1, 2 and 3 was calculated.
8. The average percent by mass of acetic acid in vinegar was also calculated in the
experiment.
6. RESULT
Part A: Standardization of sodium hydroxide solution.
Volume of NaOH

Titration 1 (pH)

Titration 2 (pH)

Titration 3 (pH)

(mL)
7

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Mass of beaker (g)

Mass of beaker (g) +KHP (g)
Mass of KHP (g)
Volume of NaOH to

4.48
4.75
4.80
5.05
5.15
5.30
5.37
5.48
5.60
5.77
5.94
6.20
6.60
11.94
12.35
12.50

Titration 1
98.388
99.8892
1.5012
12.6

4.45
4.72
4.83
4.97
5.12
5.25
5.35
5.46
5.62
5.76
5.93
6.17
6.68
12.05
12.35
12.46

Titration 2
101.300
102.8001
1.5001
12.5

4.58
4.86
5.07
5.14
5.13
5.40
5.55
5.52
5.64
5.77
5.95
6.19
6.75
11.96
12.33
12.48

Titration 3
98.225
99.7256
1.5006
12.4

jmmmmmmm-zneutralize the
KHP solution (mL)

Titration 1:

pH

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Volume of NaOH (mL)

Titration 2:

pH

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Volume of NaOH (mL)

Titration 3:

pH

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Volume of NaOH (mL)

Part B: molarity of acetic acid and percent by mass of vinegar

Volume of

Titration 1

NaOH (mL)
0
2
4
5
8
10
12
14
16
18
19
20
21

(pH)
3.10
3.69
4.02
4.2
4.40
4.54
4.66
4.75
4.89
5.01
5.07
5.13
5.19
10

22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
34
36

5.26
5.32
5.40
5.50
5.60
5.74
5.95
6.10
6.62
10.8
11.65
12.00
12.10

Volume of

Titration 2

NaOH (mL)

(pH)

3.00

2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
31
33
35

3.68
4.03
4.26
4.45
4.59
4.70
4.83
4.92
5.06
5.27
5.28
5.36
5.47
5.58
5.65
5.77
5.89
6.16
6.61
11.20
12.06
12.20
12.30

11

Volume of

Titration 3

NaOH (mL)

(pH)

0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
34
36
38

Volume of NaOH require

3.05
3.68
4.02
4.20
4.37
4.54
4.67
4.77
4.87
4.98
5.06
5.16
5.20
5.27
5.36
5.40
5.47
5.64
5.72
5.90
6.15
6.62
11.23
11.98
12.20
12.24

Titration 1 (pH)

Titration 2 (pH)

Titration 3 (pH)

30.5

28.5

31.6

to neutralize vinegar
(mL)

12

Titration 1:

pH

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38
Volume of NaOH (mL)

Titration2:

pH

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38
Volume of NaOH (mL)

Titration 3:

13

pH

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
Volume of NaOH (mL)

7. SAMPLE OF CALCULATION

Calculations for preparing 250 mL of approximately 0.6 M sodium hydroxide solution.

250 mL

1L
0.6 mol 39.996 g

=5.999 g
1000 mL
L
mol

Calculate the molarity of sodium hydroxide for each titration.

Titration 1:
1.5012 g KHP

1 mol KHP
=0.007352mol KHP
204.2 g KHP

0.007352 mol KHP

1 mol NaOH
=0.007352mol NaOH
I mol KHP

14

12.6 mL NaOH

M=

1L
=0.0126 L NaOH
1000mL

mol 0.007352 mol NaOH

=
=0.5835 M NaOH
L
0.0126 L NaOH

Titration 2:
1.5001 g KHP

1 mol KHP
=0.007346 mol KHP
204.2 g KHP

0.007346 mol KHP

12.5 mL NaOH

M=

1 mol NaOH
=0.007346 mol NaOH
I mol KHP

1L
=0.0125 L NaOH
1000 mL

mol 0.007346 mol NaOH

=
=0.5877 M NaOH
L
0.0125 L NaOH

Titration 3:
1.5006 g KHP

1 mol KHP
=0.007349 mol KHP
204.2 g KHP

0.007349 mol KHP

12.4 mL NaOH

M=

1mol NaOH
=0.007349 mol NaOH
I mol KHP

1L
=0.0124 L NaOH
1000 mL

mol 0.007349 mol NaOH

=
=0.5927 M NaOH
L
0.0124 L NaOH
15

Calculate the average molarity of sodium hydroxide for each titration.

M average=

0.5835 M + 0.5877 M + 0.5927 M

=0.5880 M NaOH
3

Calculate the molarity of acetic acid in vinegar for each titration.

Titration 1:
30.5 mL NaOH

1L
=0.0305 L NaOH
1000 mL

0.0305 L NaOH

0.6024 mol NaOH

=0.0183732mol NaOH
L

0.0183732 mol NaOH

10 mL acetic acid

M=

1 mol acetic acid

=0.0183732 mol acetic acid
I mol NaOH

1L
=0.01 L acetic acid
1000 mL

mol 0.0183732 mol acetic acid

=
=1.83732 M acetic acid
L
0.01 L acetic acid

Titration 2:
28.5 mL NaOH

1L
=0.0285 L NaOH
1000 mL

16

0.0285 L NaOH

0.6024 mol NaOH

=0.0171684 mol NaOH
L

0.0171684 mol NaOH

10 mL acetic acid

M=

1 mol acetic acid

=0.0171684 mol acetic acid
I mol NaOH

1L
=0.01 L acetic acid
1000 m L

mol 0.0171684 mol acetic acid

=
=1.71684 M acetic acid
L
0.01 L acetic acid

Titration 3:
31.6 mL NaOH

1L
=0.0316 L NaOH
1000 mL

0.0315 L NaOH

0.6024 mol NaOH

=0.0189756 mol NaOH
L

0.0189756 mol NaOH

10 mL acetic acid

M=

1mol acetic acid

=0.0189756 mol acetic acid
I mol NaOH

1L
=0.01 L acetic acid
1000 mL

mol 0.0189756 mol acetic acid

=
=1.89756 M acetic acid
L
0.01 L acetic acid

Calculate the average of acetic for each titration

M average=

1.83732 M +1.71684 M +1.89756 M

=1.81724 M acetic acid
3

17

Calculate the percent by ma of acetic acid in vinegar for each titration.

Titration 1:
10 mL acetic acid

1L
=0.01 L acetic acid
1000 mL

0.01 L acetic acid

1.83732mol acetic acid

=0.0183732 mol acetic acid
L

0.0183732 mol acetic acid

60.06 g acetic acid

=1.1035 g acetic acid
mol

Titration 2:
10 mL acetic acid

1L
=0.01 L acetic acid
1000 mL

0.01 L acetic acid

1.71684 mol acetic acid

=0.017684 mol acetic acid
L

0.017684 mol acetic acid

60.06 g acetic acid

=1.0311 g acetic acid
mol

Titration 3:
10 mL acetic acid

1L
=0.01 L acetic acid
1000 mL

0.01 L acetic acid

1.89756 mol acetic acid

=0.0189756 mol acetic acid
L

18

0.0189756 mol acetic acid

60.06 g acetic acid

=1.1397 g acetic acid
mol

Calculate the average percent by mass of acetic acid in vinegar.

10 mL acetic acid

Mass average=

1 g acetic acid solution

=10 g acetic acid solution
mL

1.1035 g +1.0311 g +1.1397 g

=1.0914 g acetic acid
3

percent mass acetic acid=

g acetic acid
100
g acetic acid solution

percent mass acetic acid=

1.0914 g acetic acid

100 =10.91
10 g acetic acid solution

8. DISCUSSION
The concentration of acetic acid in vinegar in this experiment can be determined by using
titration method. Acid base titration is used to determine the concentration of acetic acid in this
experiment. This method gradually adds the known concentration to the unknown solution until
the chemical reaction between two of the solution is complete. The main purpose of titration is
to determine the equivalence point of the reaction. Equivalence point will occur when the added
quantity of one reactant is the exact amount necessary for the stoichiometric reaction with the
other reactant and the concentration of an acid and base could be determine.
KHP is titrated with the NaOH solution. When the KHP is titrated, the value of the pH
solution increases as the volume of NaOH is added. This is because as the bases area added to
the acid solution, some of hydrogen ion will be neutralize. Part A of the experiment which
sodium hydroxide is standardized, mass of NaOH solid obtained is 5.999g. After that, it has been
19

dissolved with 250mL of distillation water to form 0.6 M of sodium hydroxide solution. After the
solution has been prepared, titration process was done until the solution neutralized. From the
neutralized solution, volume NaOH solution used to neutralize the acid is 12.6 mL for titration 1,
12.5 mL for titration 2 and 12.6 mL for titration 3. The molarity of NaOH for each titration was
calculated. The molarity for titration 1 is 0.5835 M, titration 2 0.5877 M and 0.5927 M for
titration 3.
The sudden changes in pH of the solution during the titration show that the solutions are
completely neutralized. The titration has reached the equivalence point where neutralization
takes places.
For the second part of the experiment, For the second experiment, part B, which is to
determine the concentration of acetic acid in vinegar, 10 mL of vinegar are used to titrate with
the of sodium hydroxide solution which has been standardized for the previous experiment. The
molarity of acetic acid and percent by mass of vinegar was determined. The calculated molarity
of acetic acid is 1.83732 M for titration 1, 1.71684 M for titration 2 and 1.89756 M for titration
3. Therefore, the percent by mass calculated from the data collected resulting in 10.91%.

9. CONCLUSION
In the end of the experiment, the molarity and the percent by mass of acetic acid in
vinegar can be determined. From the sample of calculation, the concentration of acetic acid in
vinegar for titration 1 is 1.83732 M, titration 2 is 1.71684 M and 1.89756 M for titration 3. The
percent by mass obtained from the experiment is 10.91% of acetic acid.

10. RECOMMENDATION

The titration must be done a few times to get an accurate value.

Avoid parallax error in order to get accurate value during the experiment.

20

Use indicator such as phenolphthalein instead of pH probe in order to detect the end

point.
The sample must be weight accurately and make sure to tare the analytic balance before

recording the mass of the sample.

Rinse the buret with the NaOH solution, instead of water, before filling it at the start of
the titration. So, the concentration of NaOH is pure without pollute with other impurities.

11.

REFERENCES
Engineering Chemistry laboratory manual (2014)
Chang, R. (2005). Chemistry. Tenth Edition. United State: McGraw Hill
McMurry, J. (2003). Chemistry. United State: John Wiley and Sons.

12. APPENDICES

Figure 12.1: Titration method

21