OBJECTIVE

To determine the exact molarity of a hydrochloric acid solution.

Introduction
Pure sodium carbonate is a non-hygroscopic primary standard reagent. A standard solution
prepared by dissolving a known amount of the solid Na2CO3 in a fixed volume can be used to
standardize other acid solutions. The aim of the experiment is to prepare a standard solution
of exact concentration which can later be used to standardize other solutions. HCl is not a
primary standard. Thus, after a dilute HCl is prepared, it has to be standardized with a
primary standard solution in order to determine its concentration accurately. In this
experiment, a standard Na2CO3 solution and a dilute HCl solution will be prepared. The HCl
solution will later be standardized against the Na 2CO3 solution. The reaction between HCl
and Na2CO3 is as follows.
2HCl + Na2CO3  2NaCl + H2O + CO2
Apparatus
100mL beaker, 250mL volumetric flask, 250mL conical flask, 25mL pipette, Burette, Retort
stand
Chemicals

Na2CO3, Concentrated HCl, Methyl orange indicator

Procedure

(a) Preparation of 0.05M Na2CO3 solution

1. About 1.33g of Na2CO3 was weighed accurately. The exact mass of the Na 2CO3 was
recorded.
2. The Na2CO3 was dissolved in about 250mL beaker.
3. The solution was transferred into a 250mL volumetric flask. The beaker was rinsed with
distilled water.
4. The distilled water was added to the mark. Then, stoppered the flask. The flask was
shook by turning it upside down a few times to make the solution homogeneous.

(b) Preparation of a dilute HCl solution

1. About 2.2mL of concentrated HCl was transferred into a 250mL beaker containing a little
water.
2. The acid was diluted to approximately 250mL with distilled water.

(c) Standardization of the dilute HCl solution

1. A burette was filled with the dilute HCl solution prepared in (b) above. The initial
burette reading was recorded.
2. 25.0mL of the standard Na2CO3 was pipetted into a 250mL conical flask. 2-3 drops of
methyl orange indicator was added to the flask.
3. The Na2CO3 was titrated in the conical flask with the HCl from the burette slowly
while shaking the flask until the indicator colour change from yellow to red. The
burette reading was recorded at the end point of the titration.
4. The titration was repeated 3 times. All the data were recorded in a table as
shown in the datasheet.
5. The exact molarity of the HCl solution was calculated.
Discussion ( min 200words)
The molarity of the concentrated solution of HCl was 1.56M. It can be determined by
finding the number of mol for HCl which was 0.0251mL then divided by the volume of
HCl used. The values obtained were not exactly the same with the theoretical values
as some errors may occurred. For example, Na 2CO3 is hygroscopic, therefore, it was
easy to absorb some water molecules from the atmosphere and resulting in
increasing the weight. The presence of carbonic acid might interfered with the end
point detection. Methyl orange indicator was used in titration because it has a sharp
red colour and able to convert sodium bicarbonate to faint yellowish colour change
that can used to determine the end point. In this experiment, the titration involved a
strong acid, HCl and a strong base, Na 2CO3 which form NaCl salt and the solution
became neutral. Since acidic solutions have low pH values, the colour of methyl
orange indicator will be red and transition to orange and yellow as the acidity are
decreases. The colour of the indicator will be yellow in basic or neutral solution. The
indicator itself was either a weak acid solution or weak basic solution that cause the
dissociation of the H+ ion and change the colour.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the objective was obtained. The concentration of hydrochloric acid
solution was 1.56M and approximately similar to the expected concentration.