AS Experiment 10.

2(9) AN ANALYSIS OF IRON TABLETS

INTRODUCTION

C. in C. Practical 2

Iron is essential to the human body. Its principal role is as a constituent of haemoglobin, the oxygen carrying agent in the blood. Iron is also present in a number of enzymes and coenzymes involved in redox processes in the body. Healthy adult males need little iron in their diet, but some groups in the population need substantial amounts in order to produce extra haemoglobin. These include growing children, pregnant and menstruating women and people who have lost considerable amounts of blood. A normal, healthy diet can usually provide a satisfactory level of iron intake. Sometimes, however, it is necessary to supplement the iron taken in the natural diet with iron tablets. Iron tablets bought at the pharmacy usually contain iron (II) sulphate (ferrous sulphate). In this practical you will attempt to find the amount of iron (II) sulphate in the tablets by titration against standard potassium manganate (VII) solution, KMnO4, and then compare it with the quantity stated on the bottle. METHOD 1) Weigh accurately 5 iron tablets and record the mass. 2) Crush the tablets lightly in a mortar and pestle and then transfer them to a 250cm3 beaker. Rinse the mortar with a little 1.0M sulphuric acid and add the washings to the beaker. 3) Add about 100cm3 of 1.0M sulphuric acid to the tablets and stir to dissolve them. You may need to WARM the beaker to help the process. The outer coating of the tablets will probably not dissolve and the mixture may remain cloudy. 4) Filter the mixture under reduced pressure using a Bchner funnel and flask, making sure you do not lose any of the solution. (Your teacher will demonstrate the procedure to you.) Rinse the beaker with small amounts of distilled water and pour the washings through the filter funnel too. Finally wash the residue on the filter paper with a little distilled water. REMEMBER TO BREAK THE SEAL ON THE BCHNER FLASK BEFORE YOU TURN OFF THE TAP! (Prevents tap water entering the flask if the valve is faulty.) 5) Transfer the solution from the Bchner flask into a 250cm3 volumetric flask, making sure you rinse out the Bchner flask well and add the washings to the SVF. Make the solution up to the mark with distilled water, stopper the flask and shake well to mix the contents. 6) Rinse a burette with distilled water and then with a little 0.01M KMnO4 solution. Fill the burette with the 0.01M KMnO4 solution, making sure the jet is full. 7) Pipette 25.0cm3 of your iron tablet solution into a large conical flask. Add about 25cm3 of 1.0M sulphuric acid from a measuring cylinder and then titrate with the KMnO4 solution until the mixture in the flask remains a faint pink colour. Repeat the titration till concordant results are obtained (agree to within 0.1cm3). SAFETY WEAR SAFETY GOGGLES: 1.0M sulphuric acid is corrosive and 0.01M KMnO4 is oxidising. Wipe up any spillages immediately and wash with water. Should solutions come into contact with skin, wash off with plenty of water.

AS Experiment 10.2(9)
RESULTS Mass of 5 iron tablets TITRATION Final burette reading (cm ) Initial burette reading (cm3) Vol. of 0.010M KMnO4 solution used (cm3)
3

C. in C. Practical 2

= . grams ROUGH 1 ACCURATE 2 3

USING THE RESULTS 1) Balance the ionic equation below for the reaction of Fe2+ ions and MnO4- ions in acid solution:MnO4- + ..Fe2+ + ..H+ Mn2+ + ..Fe3+ + ..H2O 2) Use your concordant results to work out an average titre. Average titre = 3) Work out the number of moles of MnO4- contained in this volume of solution. Moles of MnO4- = ... 4) Use the balanced equation in Question 1) to calculate the number of moles of Fe2+ ion in the 25.0cm3 of solution that reacted with the MnO4- in the titration. Moles Fe2+ in titration = .. 5) Now find the number of moles of Fe2+ ion in the total volume of solution you made up. Moles Fe2+ in original solution = . 6) Now calculate the masses of iron and iron (II) sulphate in each tablet. Mass of iron (Fe) in 5 tablets Mass of iron (Fe) in 1 tablet Mass of FeSO4 in 5 tablets= Mass of FeSO4 in 1 tablet Mass of FeSO47H2O in 1 tablet = = = = . .... . . .

Mass of FeSO47H2O in 5 tablets =

7) % by mass of FeSO4 in the iron tablets = .

AS Experiment 10.2(9)
QUESTIONS

C. in C. Practical 2

1) What mass of iron (II) sulphate is stated by the manufacturers to be present in each iron tablet? Mass of FeSO4 stated = ... 2) Compare the value you calculated from your experiment and comment on the result. .. .. .. .. .. 3) Your answer is probably LOWER than the manufacturers stated value. What possible reasons are there for this? .. .. .. .. .. 4) Why should the mixture of iron tablets and sulphuric acid not be heated more than necessary? .. .. .. 5) Why are the iron tablets dissolved in sulphuric acid, rather than in distilled water? .. .. .. 6) What do you think the outer coating of the tablets is made from? ..