Determining Molarity through Acid-Base Titration

Brylan Teague
Lab Partners: Travis Brown
Evan Fiore
CHEM 1251L-039
11/8/16

Introduction:
Titration is the addition of a known concentration solution to another solution of
unknown concentration until the reaction is complete. A solution is a homogeneous
(uniform) mixture that consists of one or more solutes being mixed with a solvent. It can
possibly exhibit color because it absorbs wavelengths of light while allowing other lights
to pass through at the same time. Molarity (M) is the number of moles of solute per liters
of solution. A phenolphthalein is involved to help assist with the titration because its a
weak acid by itself. It is also a colorless liquid and its anion is a bright pink. In this
experiment, certain acids are mixed with a base of NaOH (sodium hydroxide) in order to
determine the molarity through an acid-base titration. The three different acids include
KHP (potassium hydrogen phthalate), acetic acid (C2H3O2), and sulfuric acid (H2SO4).
The buret was used in order to add the base (NaOH) into each different solution and for
each trial.

Procedure:
The solution of KHP was weighed at roughly 1.00 grams inside Erlenmeyer flask.
It was dissolved by placing 70-75 milliliters of distilled (sanitized) water into the flask
and along its edges. Three to five drops of the phenolphthalein was placed into the
solution. The buret is clamped so that the tip is above the Erlenmeyer flask. Its then
filled with the base (NaOH) and the initial volume was recorded. The stopcock was
turned on allowing the base to go down. But, fingers were kept both on the stopcock and
on the flask. Its important to keep swirling the flask so that the solution is mixed. The

indicator is responsible for making the solution turn a light pinkish color. The titration
was stopped and had to slow it down at a slower rate, one drop at a time. The end point is
the first drop that makes all the solution turn light pink for at least one minute. The buret
was turned off at that moment and the final volume was recorded. The total volume was
then calculated by the difference between the final volume and the initial volume. The
molarity of the NaOH solution was then calculated as well. The titration process was
repeated two more times in order to get close to the actual molarity. A 2.0 mL of acetic
acid was measured out from the graduated cylinder and placed into a different
Erlenmeyer flask. It is diluted with 50 mL of distilled water along with three to five drops
of the phenolphthalein. The cylinder was rinsed out several times and these rinses were
added to the flask. The flask was titrated to the phenolphthalein end point, and this
process was done two trials total. A 2.0 mL sample of sulfuric acid solution was measured
out from a graduated cylinder. The same process with acetic acid is used with the sulfuric
acid and is done two times total. The total volume was found for both acids by
subtracting the final volume from the initial volume of the buret. The molarity of all the
acids was calculated and plotted on a graph to examine results.

Results:
Table 1: This table shows the molarity of KHP solution using standardized NaOH.
Data

Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Mass KHP used(g)

1.05 g

1.00 g

1.00 g

Molar mass of KHP

(g/mol)

204.22
g/mol

204.22
g/mol

204.22
g/mol

Moles of KHP used

(moles)

.00519 mol
KHP

.0049 mol
KHP

.0049 mol
KHP

1:1

1:1

1:1

Moles of NaOH(used)

.00519 mol

.0049 mol

.0049 mol

Initial volume of NaOH

(mL)

16.20 mL

14.6 mL

14.0 mL

Final volume of NaOH

(mL)

42.51 mL

38.15 mL

38.1 mL

26.31 mL

23.55 mL

24.1 mL

.195 M
NaOH

.208 M
NaOH

.203 M
NaOH

Acid:Base molar ratio

Volume of NaOH used

(mL, L)
Molarity of NaOH
(moles/L)

Average molarity of
NaOH (mol/L)

Equation

1 mol KHP : 1 mol NaOH

V= V f - V i
.00514 mol
,
.02631 L
.0049 mol
.0146 L
.195 M +.208 M +.203 M
3
= .202 M NaOH

Table 2: This table shows the molarity of the acetic acid solution using standardized
NaOH.
Unknown Acetic Acid ID# = 95
Data

Trial 1

Trial 2

Molarity of NaOH (moles/L)

.208 M

.203 M

Initial volume of NaOH (mL)

6.35 mL

13.65 mL

13.65 mL

20.5 mL

Volume of NaOH used (mL)

7.3 mL

6.85 mL

Moles of NaOH used (moles)

.0049 moles

.0049 moles

1:1

1:1

Moles of acetic acid (used)

.0049 mol

.0049 mol

Volume of acetic acid used

(mL, L)

2.0 mL

2.0 mL

.759M acetic
acid

.710M acetic
acid

Final volume of NaOH (mL)

Acid:Base molar ratio

Molarity of acetic acid

(moles/L)

Equation

V= V f - V i

1 mol acetic acid: 1 mol

NaOH

.208 M +.7 .3 mL ,
2.0 mL
.203 M6.85 mL
2.0 mL

.759 M +.710 M
Average molarity of acetic acid
=
(mol/L)
2
735 M acetic acid

=.

Table 3: This table shows the molarity of the sulfuric acid solution using standardized
NaOH.
UnknownSulfuricAcid#=none(NoI.D.)

Data

Trial 1

Trial 2

Molarity of NaOH (moles/L)

.208 M

.203 M

Initial volume of NaOH (mL)

20.5 mL

30.0 mL

Final volume of NaOH (mL)

30.0 mL

39.15 mL

9.5 mL

9.15 mL

.0049 moles

.0049 moles

1:2

1:2

Moles of sulfuric acid (used)

.00245 mol

.00245 mol

Volume of sulfuric acid used

(mL, L)

2.0 mL

2.0 mL

.988M sulfuric
acid

.929M sulfuric
acid

Volume of NaOH used (mL)

Equation

V= V f - V i

Moles of NaOH used (moles)

Acid:Base molar ratio

1 mol sulfuric acid: 2 mol

NaOH

Molarity of sulfuric acid

(moles/L)

.208 M +9.50 mL
,
2.0 mL
.203 M9.15 mL
2.0 mL

Average molarity of sulfuric

acid (mol/L)

.988 M +.929 M
2

=.

958M sulfuric acid

Discussion:
The data collected shows the true difference from all three different acids titrating
with the same base. The reason why KHP was used for the standardization of NaOH was
because scientists commonly use this acid and is easy to be recognized. Also, it has to be
stable when it is in the air and has high purity. A standard solution is a solution of a
definite concentration that is known. The KHP was the primary (first) standard and the
NaOH (titrant) was the secondary (second) standard. There had to be more than one trial
because volume is a key role in calculating the molarity and increases the chance of
getting excellent accuracy. Based on our results from Table 4, the accuracy was close to
each other to the original molarity. The precision of each of the three trials was within
close range to each other. Even though two of the results were a little on the high side, it
was better to do multiple trials to help get a more precise result. The percent error
explains there could have been a reason why something went wrong in a experiment.

Referring back to the data collected, trial two was more likely to have a mistake than the
other trials.
The titration of acetic acid was involving two trials instead of three and 2.0 mL of
that acid. The molarity of the acid was based off the molarity of the NaOH calculated in
the first part of the experiment. It had a one to one ratio of the acid-base molar
concentration. Based on Table 5, both trials were very great in precision and on accuracy.
Even though the calculated average was a little low, it was still within the actual average.
The average molarity of acetic acid is 1.0M, and our results were pretty close to that
average. The equation used for the calculations is setting the molarity and volume of the
first solution equal to the molarity and volume of the second solution. Based on the
results, the percent errors indicate that there was a mistake made in one of the trials.
The titration of sulfuric acid was based on the same process as the acetic acid. It
was done with two trials and had the same amount of milliliters as acetic acid. Its
molarity was reduced to half of the molarity of the NaOH because if the mole to mole
ratio of an acid to base mole ratio. The equation used for finding molarity is the molarity
and volume of the first solution is equal to the molarity and volume of the second
solution. Based of the data in Table 6, both trials did have great precision and accuracy
because the two trial numbers were close within each other. The results were under the
actual average molarity of the unknown sulfuric acid. The percent error in this third part
is indicating that something went wrong in the trials.
Based of all three types of titration, each one was excellent with titration with
both the NaOH and the phenolphthalein combined. The role of the acid/base indicator is
to let it be neutralized and help assist the base of NaOH with the titration process. The

indicator is colorless and makes the solution turn pink when the base is added in a certain
amount. The equivalence point is the point where the known concentration is titrated with
an unknown solution at just the right amount to react completely. In contrast, the end
point occurs at the end of the titration when the indicator has changed a pinkish color for
a minute with the last drop being the final volume of the base added. The precision of the
technique was useful and was close in numbers within each trial. The accuracy of the
technique was a little off with each trial but close to the actual result. Both accuracy and
precision wont be the same all the time in many cases.

Table 4: This table shows the molarity of KHP solution using standardized NaOH.
Data

Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Mass KHP used (g)

1.05 g

1.00 g

1.00 g

Molar mass of KHP

(g/mol)

204.22
g/mol

204.22
g/mol

204.22
g/mol

Moles of KHP used

(moles)

.00519 mol
KHP

.0049 mol
KHP

.0049 mol
KHP

1:1

1:1

1:1

Moles of NaOH(used)

.00519 mol

.0049 mol

.0049 mol

Initial volume of NaOH

(mL)

16.20 mL

14.6 mL

14.0 mL

Final volume of NaOH

(mL)

42.51 mL

38.15 mL

38.1 mL

26.31 mL

23.55 mL

24.1 mL

Acid:Base molar ratio

Volume of NaOH used

Equation

1 mol KHP : 1 mol

NaOH

V= V f - V i

(mL, L)
.00514 mol
,
.02631 L
.0049 mol
.0146 L

Molarity of NaOH
(moles/L)

Average molarity of
NaOH (mol/L)

.195 M
NaOH

.208 M
NaOH

.203 M
NaOH

.195 M +.208 M +.203 M

3
= .202 M

Table 5: This table shows the molarity of the acetic acid solution using standardized
NaOH.
Unknown Acetic Acid ID# = 95
Data

Trial 1

Trial 2

Molarity of NaOH (moles/L)

.208 M

.203 M

Initial volume of NaOH (mL)

6.35 mL

13.65 mL

Final volume of NaOH (mL)

13.65 mL

20.5 mL

7.3 mL

6.85 mL

.0049 moles

.0049 moles

1:1

1:1

Volume of NaOH used (mL)

Equa tions

Equation

V= V f - V i

Moles of NaOH used (moles)

Acid:Base molar ratio

1 mol acetic acid:1 mol

NaOH

Moles of acetic acid (used)

.0049 mol

.0049 mol

Volume of acetic acid used

(mL, L)

2.0 mL

2.0 mL

.759 M acetic
acid

.710 M acetic
acid

.208 M +.7 .3 mL
,
2.0 mL
.203 M6.85 mL
2.0 mL

Molarity of acetic acid

(moles/L)

Average molarity of acetic acid

(mol/L)

.759 M +.710 M
2
=.735M
=

Table 6: This table shows the molarity of the sulfuric acid solution using standardized
NaOH.
Data

Trial 1

Trial 2

Molarity of NaOH (moles/L)

.208 M

.203 M

Initial volume of NaOH (mL)

20.5 mL

30.0 mL

Final volume of NaOH (mL)

30.0 mL

39.15 mL

9.5 mL

9.15 mL

.0049 moles

.0049 moles

1:2

1:2

Volume of NaOH used (mL)

Equation

V= V f - V i

Moles of NaOH used (moles)

Acid:Base molar ratio

1 mol sulfuric acid : 2

mol NaOH

Moles of sulfuric acid (used)

.00245 mol

.00245 mol

Volume of sulfuric acid used

(mL, L)

2.0 mL

2.0 mL

.988 M sulfuric
acid

.929 M sulfuric
acid

Molarity of sulfuric acid

(moles/L)

Average molarity of sulfuric

acid (mol/L)

.208 M +9.50 mL
,
2.0 mL
.203 M9.15 mL
2.0 mL
.988 M +.929 M
2
958 M

=.

Conclusion:
Overall, this experiment was successful in showing that the molarity can be
determined from an acid-base titration. The relation between molarity and volume is that
the higher the volume, the lower the molarity. The molarities of all three acids were
different from each other. But, each one was pretty close to the average of each solution.
There could have been many percent errors involved with this experiment. These include
the over titrating the solutions and not titrating each solution enough to the right point.
Every experiment has some flaw that makes the whole thing go wrong.

Sample Calculations:
1. V= V f - V i

= 42.51mL-16.20mL=26.31mL

2. M=moles of solute (g)/Liters of solution (g/mol)=.00514 mol/.02631 L=.195M

3. Average molarity =sum of numbers / how many numbers there are
=.

.195 M +.208 M +.203 M

=.6633M/3=.202 M
3

4. Finding Moles = #g (1 mol/molar mass (g))=1.05g(1mol/204.22 grams KHP)

=.00514 mol KHP
V 1 = M2
V 2 = Example: .208M*7.3mL=x*2.0mL
5. M 1
.208 M +.7 .3 mL
=.759M
2.0 mL

x=