Chemical Analysis by Redox Titration

Katelyn Dudash

Mrs. Haberman

November 8, 2017
Purpose:

Determine the percent of peroxide present in the unknown solution by preforming a

titration experiment with the oxidizing agent MnO4- and the reducing agent H2O2.

Procedure:

This experiment is accomplished through a titration lab. To begin the lab, 10.xxxg of

hydrogen peroxide must be obtained and diluted with 75mL of water. Then, 20 mL of 3M

H2SO4 is added to the diluted hydrogen peroxide solution. A separate 50mL buret is to be filled

with MnO4- and the amount that is added is recorded. After the buret is set up on a ring stand

over the beaker containing the solution, MnO4- is titrated through the buret into the H2O2

solution. The MnO4- is added and stirred until the color (which will be light purple/pink) is

persistent in the solution. To determine how much MnO4- was added, record the buret reading.

The experiment is completed a second or third time so that the two recordings can be compared.

The calculated percent of the two should be within 1% of each other.

Experimental Data:

Trial # Mass of Concentratio Initial Buret Final Buret Volume of Observation

H2O2 (g) n of standard Reading Reading MnO4- s

Solution (M) (mL) (mL) (mL)

Trial #1 9.77 g .1 M MnO4- 9.4 ml 12.6 ml 3.2 ml A darker

pink/purple

color

indicated that

too much
 permanganate

was added
Trial #2 10.26 g .1 M MnO4- 12.6 ml 14.9 ml 2.3 ml A lighter pink

color

indicated that

a more

accurate

amount of

permanganate

was added
Trial #3 10.60 g .1 M MnO4- 14.9 ml 17.2 ml 2.3 ml A lighter pink

color

indicated that

a more

accurate

amount of

permanganate

was added

Calculations/Graphs:

Subtraction was used to determine the volume of MnO4- used in each trial:

The milligrams of H2O2 in the sample for each trial was calculated:
The % percent of H2O2 by mass was calculated for each trial and with that data the average was

calculated:

Conclusions:

With the recorded amount of oxidizing agent added to the solution, the amount of

reducing agent present can be determined. After performing the experiment in three separate

trials, the percent of peroxide in the unknown solution was found to be .27%, .19%, and .18%.

After calculating these individual percentages, it was found that the average percent of peroxide

in the commercial solution was .21%.

Theory:

The theory exhibited in this lab is titration. Titration is utilized to determine the amount of an

unknown solution in the experiment. It is accomplished by adding a standard solution or a

solution of known concentration until the titration is deemed to be complete. The titration

process is considered to be complete, or at the endpoint, when the amount of the oxidizing agent

and reducing agent are chemically equal. In the observations from the experimentation, it was

recorded that all three trials showed successful use of titration, however the last two trials were

more successful than the first one.

Error Analysis:

Errors that could have impacted the results of this experiment include measurement

errors, such as adding too much MnO4- to the solution. The data from the three trials shows a

difference between the first trial and the other two trials. This could be because too much MnO4-

was added due to which would have created a darker color in the solution and would have made

the resulting data a larger number than it should have been. Another error could be the

measurement of the cylinder, which was calculated to be a different mass when it was calculated

for the different trials. This, in turn would have affected the mass of the cylinder containing the

H2O2 because it was difficult to measure out exactly 10.00g without more accurate measuring

tools.