Determining the concentration of an

Unknown potassium (vii) manganate solution

Using UV visible spectrophotometer

Aim:

The aim of this practical was to determine the concentration of an unknown potassium (vii)
manganate solution.

Objective:

The objective of this practical was the determination of the concentration of the unknown
potassium (vii) manganate solution using a UV visible spectrophotometer.

Introduction:

All colors which can be observed is due to the absorption and reflection of the visible light
spectrum absorbed or reflected off surfaces or molecules. A spectrophotometer is a device
which measures the amount of light absorbed from a solution at different wavelengths of light
emitted. (Adam Cap, 2017) With the increase of concentration, the absorbance of certain
wavelengths also increases. This is denoted by the Beer Lambert law where the linear
relationship between concentration and absorbance was instated. The equation in terms of
intensities is as follows:

Beer lambert law in terms of intensities

(Chemistry LibreTexts, 2017)

A calibration curve is a graph drawn by using the relative absorbencies with increasing
concentrations. Such a graph enables us to find the concentration of an unknown solution using
the values from the graph. This is one such practical, where absorbencies of KMnO4 solutions of
increasing concentrations were measured to plot a calibration curve to find out the concentration
of the unknown KMnO4 solution.

Safety:

Since chemical substances which are irritants and electrical equipment are used, safety
precautions must be followed. The chemicals (KMnO 4) should not be touched with bare hands
and PPE including the lab coat, gloves and appropriate shoes must be worn prior to starting the
practical.
Materials:

KMnO4 (0.632g)
Distilled water
Test tubes
Stirring rod
Pipette
Watch glass
Volumetric flask
Beaker
UV visible spectrophotometer

Tube KMnO4 0.04 M Distilled H2O

Methodology: (ml) (ml)
1 2 8

1. 2 4 6 0.623g of
KMnO4 was
3 6 4
measured
4 8 2 using the
analytical
5 10 0
balance.
2. It was
dissolved in water to make a 100 ml KMnO4 solution in a volumetric flask.
3. 5 clean, dry test tubes were labeled 1-5.
4. Pipettes were used to prepare 5 standard solutions according to table 1.0 from
the master solution made in step 2.

Table 1.0 Serial dilution volumes of KMnO4

5. After the preparation of the master stock, as seen in figure 1.0, it was observed
that it was too concentrated. Therefore, it was decided to dilute the master stock.

Figure 1.0
First master stock
(0.04M concentration)
Preparation of the second master stock

6. One milliliter of the first master stock was transferred to a volumetric flask using a
pipette.

7. The transferred volume was re-diluted to create a solution with a concentration of

1/10th of the initial master stock by adding 99 ml of water and making the total
volume of the second master stock 100 cm3.
 Figure 2.0
Second master stock
(0.004M concentration)

8. Since the visual appearance of the second master stock also appeared too
concentrated it was decided to re-dilute the second master stock as well.

Preparation of the third master stock

9. One milliliter of the second master stock was transferred to a volumetric flask
using a pipette.

10. The transferred volume was re-diluted to create a solution with a concentration of
1/10th of the initial master stock by adding 99 ml of water and making the total
volume of the third master stock 100 cm3.
 Figure 3.0
Third master stock
(0.0004M concentration)

11. The third master stock was decided to be used to obtain values for the calibration
curve.

12. The absorbencies of the KMnO4 solution from the third master stock were
measured using the UV visible spectrophotometer and a suitable wavelength
was selected.

13. The absorbencies of the serial dilutions of the copper sulfate solution were
transferred into cuvettes labeled 1-5 and were measured using the selected
wavelength.
Results: Wavelength Vs Absorbance

Table 2.0 Wavelength Vs Absorbance

Wavelength () Absorbance
(nm)
400 fluctuate

425 0.161

475 0.346

500 0.348

525 0.847

550 0.919

575 0.591

Concentration Vs Absorbance

C1 V 1=C 2 V 2

i. 0.04 * 02 = C2 * 100*10-3 = 0.00008 moldm-3

ii. 0.04 * 04 = C2 * 100*10-3 = 0.00016 moldm-3
iii. 0.04 * 06 = C2 * 100*10-3 = 0.00024 moldm-3
iv. 0.04 * 08 = C2 * 100*10-3 = 0.00032 moldm-3
v. 0.04 * 10 = C2 * 100*10-3 = 0.00040 moldm-3

Table 3.0 Concentration Vs Absorbance

Concentration Absorbance
(moldm-3)
0.00008 0.124

0.00016 0.287

0.00024 0.364

0.00032 0.515

0.00040 0.609

Unknown 0.369

Absorbancy Vs Concentration of KMnO4 at 525 nm

0.7

0.6 f(x) = 1567.05x 0.61

R = 1
0.5 0.52

0.4
0.36 Absorbancy
Absorbance Linear (Absorbancy)
0.3 0.29

0.2

0.12
0.1

00
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Concentration (moldm-3)

Graph 1.0
Concentration Vs Absorbance
Discussion:

UV visible spectrophotometer is a device which is very sensitive to samples and fairly accurate
results if the absorbency range lies preferably below 1.5. Therefore, when the initial master
stock was made it was re-diluted up to 1/10th of the initial concentration and again from the
second master stock, as it was re-diluted up to 1/10th of the concentration of the second master
stock due to the visual appearance of the master stock seemed too concentrated.
Due to the series of dilutions, errors while performing each dilution may have add up increasing
the total error percentage of the entire practical making it less reliable. However, the cuvettes
were carefully dried to remove any traces of water which could have interfered with the reading,
maximizing the reliability.

Conclusion:

The concentration of the unknown solution with the absorbance of 0.369 was found as
0.000233996 moldm-3 using graph 1.0 which was plotted above.

References:

Adam Cap. (2017). Spectrophotometric Determination of Manganese. [online] Available at:

https://adamcap.com/schoolwork/spectrophotometric-determination-of-manganese/ [Accessed
13 Feb. 2017].