QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SODA ASH OR ALKALI
MIXTURE BY DOUBLE-INDICATOR TITRATION
B. IMPERIAL1, AND J. PERALTA1
1DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILIMAN, QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES
DATE PERFORMED: SEPTEMBER 27, 2019
INSTRUCTOR’S NAME: MELLA, L.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. Discuss the properties of an ideal
primary standard.
An ideal primary standard must have
high purity, low reactivity with the air or
surrounding environment, low hygroscopicity
(capacity of a substance to react to the
moisture content of the air by absorbing or
releasing water vapor), large molar mass and
a predictable reactivity1.
2. Is it possible to use NaOH as the primary
standard for HCl?
NaOH is not suitable for use a primary
standard, due to its very high hygroscopicity,
meaning it takes water from the atmosphere,
making it difficult to weigh a solid NaOH
sample of specific concentration2,3.
3. Discuss the basic components of the
unknown soda ash sample based on the
volume relationship at the
phenolphthalein and methyl orange
endpoints.
Soda ash may contain NaOH, Na2CO3
and NaHCO3. Na2CO3 is a polyfunctional base,
with its titration by HCl undergoing two stages
characterized by the phenolphthalein and
methyl orange endpoints. The titration
proceeds by converting all of the CO32- ions
into HCO3- at the first equivalence point
(phenolphtalein) and all the HCO3- ions are
converted into H2CO3 at the second
equivalence point (methyl orange).
4. Why is the mixture of NaOH and
NaHCO3 incompatible?
No mixture of the two can exist in stability
without reacting to form sodium carbonate
and water4, as seen in the equation below:
NaOH + NaHCO3→Na2CO3 + H2O
5. Explain the rationale behind not storing
basic solutions in volumetric glassware.
Basic solutions are not stored in
volumetric glassware because the base reacts
with the SiO2 present in the glassware5. This
can result in the glassware breaking over
time.
6. Why is there a need to boil the distilled
water in the preparation of base
solutions?
The distilled water must be boiled to
remove any dissolved carbon dioxide which
may interfere with the solution. The dissolved
CO2 forms H2CO3, which causes the water to
become slightly acidic, causing an error in the
amount of titrant needed to reach the
endpoint.
7. Why is there a need to boil the solution
before reaching the methyl orange
endpoint?
The solution was boiled to remove the
carbonic acid, causing it to decompose to
carbon dioxide and water. This results in a
much sharper change in pH during the
endpoint and a more prominent color change
5.
8. Discuss the possible sources of errors
and their effect on calculated parameters.
There is a possibility that not all CO2
were boiled off, forming a buffer system. This
causes the endpoint of the indicators will
become less accurate. This also results in a
lower percent composition for both the
solution components being calculated.
Another source of error would be the
subjectivity of the researchers in finding the
endpoint of titration. This can easily result in
(1) overtitration, which is not easily discernible
Page 1 of 2
when using methyl orange indicator and the
endpoint after boiling the sample is reached.

9. Discuss the cause of carbonate error

and its effect on the calculated values on
the calculated values obtained in
standardization and sample analysis.
Carbonate error is caused by carbon
dioxide which is retained in the solution,
which can cause an increase in the pH of the
solution, which results in the endpoint being
reached at a lower volume of titrant than
expected6.

REFERENCES

[1] Characteristics of a Primary Standard.

Seattle Pi Education.
https://education.seattlepi.com/characte
ristics-primary-standard-titration-
5535.html
(Accessed Sept 30, 2019)

[2] Beran, J. A. Laboratory Manual for

Principles of General Chemistry; Wiley:
Hoboken, NJ, 2014.

[3] Harris D. Quantitative Chemical

Analysis, 7th ed.; W.H. Freeman and
Company: New York, 2008.

[4] Cruz, J.; Lazo, B.A.; Villena, C.J.

Determination of the Components of a
Base Mixture.
https://www.academia.edu/6923740/De
termination_of_the_Components_of_a_Bas
e_Mixture
(accessed Oct 1, 2019)

[5] Skoog, D.; West, D.; Holler, F.; Crouch, S.

Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry, 9th
ed.; Brooks/Cole: California, 2013

[6] Carbonate impurity, its effect on titration

curves.
http://www.hyperquad.co.uk/documents
/Carbonate%20impurity.pdf
(accessed Sept 30, 2019)

Page 2 of 2