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Phosphate Determination
Phosphate Determination
Phosphate Determination
A. Purpose
1. To learn about the properties of phosphate salts and their role as contaminants
of natural water.
2. To determine quantitatively (by spectrophotometric means), the phosphate
content in a number of water samples.
B. Theory
307 ppm phosphate (100 ppm phosphorous) standard (0.4395 g of KH2PO4 made
up to a total volume of 1.00 L with distilled water); for store preparators:
vanadate/molybdate reagent solution [add 1.25 g of ammonium metavanadate,
NH4VO3, to 300 mL of water with stirring; add 330 mL of 12 M HCl and continue
to stir until all solid has dissolved; cool to room temperature, add 25 g of
ammonium molybdate, (NH4)6Mo7O24.4H2O and stir until dissolved; dilute to 1.0
L]; samples of water (free of suspended materials) from different sources such as
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local lakes or streams, tap water, water from a private well, melted snow, rain
water, etc. Spectronic 20.
All standard solutions and mixtures used for spectrophotometric analysis may be
rinsed down the sink. Unsused portions of ammonium molybdate reagent or
ammonium metavanadate reagent should be poured into the heavy metal waste
container.
8. Prepare for testing two water samples: one is tap water and another is a sea
water sample, preferably green with algae in the summer (because of
excessive phosphate in the water).
9. Measure 50.0 mL aliquots (you can use a graduated cylinder) of the
unknown water samples to be tested into two clean and dry flasks.
10. To each sample, add 10 mL of ammonium vanadate/molybdate reagent.
Swirl each solution well to achieve complete mixing.
11. Measure the Absorbance of your treated samples in the spectrophotometer
at 420 nm.
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12. From the slope of the calibration curve (Part A), determine the
concentration of phosphate in your unknown samples expressed in ppm
and in molar units.
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NAME : _______________________ EXPERIMENT No. : ______________
Partner : ________________________
Calibration curve
1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________
Concentrations
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Water sample Absorbance Concentration (M) Concentration (ppm)
1.
2.
3.
Questions
1. Write a balanced net ionic equation for the reaction used in this analysis.
2. If H+ ion, VO3 ion, and Mo7O246 ion, as well as PO43 ion, are required to produce
the yellow color, why does the analysis measure phosphate ion content of the
water sample?
3. Why is distilled water used for diluting the standard solutions in this experiment?
4. If a given water sample contains 10 parts per million phosphorous, how many
grams of phosphorous would a liter contain?
5. The following terms used in this experiment may be unfamiliar to you. Look up
the definition of any term that you do not recognize: spectrophotometric,
eutrophication, ecologist, sensitivity, diffraction, monochromatic light,
wavelength, nanometer, cuvette.
6. Why are phosphates used in household detergents? What are some of the
substitutes that have been suggested for use instead of phosphates for cleaning
purposes.
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