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Activity 2 Calculations Used in Analytical Chemistry PDF
Activity 2 Calculations Used in Analytical Chemistry PDF
Activity No. 2
CALCULATIONS USED IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
1. At what level should your eye be located when reading a volume correctly?
(A) positioning the eye in the level of the meniscus
(B) positioning the eye in the tip of the glassware
(C) positioning the eye slightly higher than the meniscus
(D) positioning the eye slightly lower than the meniscus
2. When using aqueous solutions, do we read the bottom or top of the meniscus?
(A) Always on top of the meniscus
(B) Always on the bottom of the meniscus
(C) Depends on the type of meniscus formed
(D) None of the choices are correct
3. Why should volumetric glassware never be washed in hot water or dried in hot ovens?
(A) Because it will distort the volume
(B) Because it will be too hot to handle
(C) Because it will be contaminated by dust particles in ovens
(D) Because it will likely break the glassware
4. Which is more precise: a 50-mL volumetric flask, 50-mL Erlenmeyer flask, 50 mL
graduated cylinder?
(A) 50-mL volumetric flask
(B) 50-mL Erlenmeyer flask
(C) 50-mL graduated cylinder
(D) All of the glassware will have the same precision in measuring liquid volume
5. Would you use a 200-mL beaker or a 200-mL vol flask if you wish to dissolve about 1
gram NaCl in approximately 100 mL of water?
(A) A 200-mL volumetric flask will provide more precise measurement
(B) A 200-mL beaker is adequate for this task
(C) Neither the volumetric flask or beaker is providing a precise measurement
6. Would you use a 5-mL volumetric pipet, 5 mL Mohr pipet, or a 5-mL graduated cylinder if
you wish to measure exactly 5.00-mL of water?
(A) 5 mL Mohr pipette
(B) 5 mL graduated cylinder
(C) 5 mL volumetric pipette
(D) All glassware have the same precision
7. Where can we find the calibration temperature of a volumetric flask?
(A) Neck of the flask
(B) Body of the flask
(C) The Instructor will likely give the information
8. Where is the volume calibration mark on a volumetric flask?
(A) Neck of the flask
(B) Body of the flask
(C) The Instructor will likely give the information
9. What kind of pipet can contain variable volumes
(A) Burette
(B) Mohr Pipette
(C) Pasteur Pipette
(D) Volumetric Pipette
10. What kind of pipet contains a single, fixed volume?
(A) Burette
(B) Mohr Pipette
(C) Pasteur Pipette
(D) Volumetric Pipette
11. Why should a pipet always be rinsed first with the liquid to be used?
(A) To rinse off any contaminants on the inside surface walls
(B) To dilute the solution
(C) The Instruction manual says so
12. After the liquid is drained from the pipet a small amount remains inside the tip should it
be added to the volume drained from the pipet?
(A) Yes
(B) No
(C) Neither will affect the volume delivered
13. Is it ever safe to pipet a chemical solution by mouth?
(A) Yes, it is totally safe and hygienic
(B) Yes, if the liquid to be transferred is safe
(C) No, contaminants might be present and accidentally end inside the mouth
14. Molarity is defined as
(A) mmoles solute per L-solution
(B) mmoles solution per L-solute
(C) moles solute per Liter solution
(D) moles solution per L-solute
15. Which number below does not have 3 significant figures?
(A) 0.0307
(B) 0.0370
(C) 370
(D) 37.0
ACTIVITY 2
CALCULATIONS USED IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
University level science courses are numerical subjects and simple numerical skills are
essential if you are to be able to design and carry out experiments and interpret results.
PART 1: BACKGROUND
In analytical chemistry, units of volume are based on the litre (symbol L). This is the same
quantity as a dm3 with which some of you may be more familiar.
Since we are often dealing with small quantities, volumes can also be given as:
millilitre (mL) = 10-3 L = 0.001 L
microlitre (L) = 10-6 L = 0.000001 L
Similarly, weights are given as gram (g) and can also be given as:
milligram (mg) = 10-3 g = 0.001 g
microgram (g) = 10-6 g = 0.000001 g
MOLE
The mole is defined as is Avogadro’s number of particles (atoms, molecules, ions, or anything
else). A mole is the quantity of a substance whose weight in grams is equal to the molecular
weight of the substance. This is conventionally written as 1 mol.
Example: NaOH
Atomic Mass of Na = 23, Atomic Mass of O = 16, Atomic Mass of H = 1,
The molecular mass of NaOH is the sum of atomic masses of the atoms in the molecule,
that is, Mr = 23 + 16 + 1 = 40.
therefore, 1 mole of NaOH is equal to 40 g
Don't confuse mol and M. The first is an amount, the second is a concentration.
To interconvert between volumes, molarities and moles, remember that the molarity (M)
mol
of a solution is the number of moles per litre, i.e. M =
vol (in L)
There are other ways in expressing concentrations units, particularly if the solute Mr is
known (e.g. molality, percentage, normality). The detailed discussion of these units will
be presented in the lecture component.
All your results and calculations using your measured data should reflect the accuracy of the
experiment you carried out. We use significant figures and decimal places to indicate the
accuracy of our measurements. For example, a concentration of 25 mM indicates that the
true concentration is somewhere between 24 and 26 mM. If however, the concentration was
given as 25.3 mM, this indicates that the true value lies between 25.2 and 25.4 mM.
Problems with significant figures and decimal places often arise when you are carrying out a
calculation with your data and the calculator gives a number with many decimal places.
Familiarising with the rules of significant figures and rounding off numbers may help you.
When reading a measured value, all nonzero digits should be counted as significant. There is
a set of rules for determining if a zero in a measurement is significant or not.
RULE 1. Zeros in the middle of a number are like any other digit; they are always
significant. Thus, 94.072 g has five significant figures.
RULE 2. Zeros at the beginning of a number are NOT significant; they act only to locate
the decimal point. Thus, 0.0834 cm has three significant figures, and 0.029 07 mL has
four.
RULE 3. Zeros at the end of a number and after the decimal point are significant. It is
assumed that these zeros would not be shown unless they were significant. 138.200
m has six significant figures. If the value were known to only four significant figures,
we would write 138.2 m.
RULE 4. Zeros at the end of a number and before an implied decimal point may or
may not be significant. We cannot tell whether they are part of the measurement or
whether they act only to locate the unwritten but implied decimal point.
ROUNDING OFF NUMBERS
Once you decide how many digits to retain, the rules for rounding off numbers are
straightforward:
RULE 1. If the first digit you remove is 4 or less, drop it and all following digits. 2.4271
becomes 2.4 when rounded off to two significant figures because the first dropped digit
(a 2) is 4 or less.
RULE 2. If the first digit removed is 5 or greater, round up by adding 1 to the last digit
kept. 4.5832 is 4.6 when rounded off to 2 significant figures since the first dropped digit
(an 8) is 5 or greater.
RULE 3. In carrying out a multiplication or division, the answer cannot have more
significant figures than either of the original numbers. The final answer should contain
the same number of significant figures as there are in the measurement with the fewest
significant figures
RULE 4. In carrying out an addition or subtraction, the answer cannot have more digits
after the decimal point than either of the original numbers. The final answer has the
same number of decimal places as there are in the measurement with the fewest
decimal places.
If a calculation has several steps, it is best to round off at the end. In calculations
use all the decimal places that the measurement provides and round off the final
number to the correct number of significant figures.
Example 2: 3.689 g of substance dissolved in 2.17 L of solution = 3.689/2.17 g/L = 1.70 g/L
(not 1.7)
In teaching and research laboratories, many frequently used solutions like buffers and
chemical reagents are made up and stored as concentrated stock solutions and diluted
appropriately before use. In dilution, a known volume of the concentrated solution (referred as
stock solution) is transferred to clean vessel (such as a volumetric flask) and diluted to the
desired final volume by addition of a solvent (i.e. water).
Dilutions of solutions from concentrated to dilute solutions is governed by the Dilution formula:
C1V1 = C2V2
Q2. Given a 1.0 M solution of NaCl, how would you make 500 mL of 10 mM NaCl?
Q3. What would the molarity of a solution be if you mixed 4.0 mL of a 2.4 M stock
solution with 12.0 mL H2O?
PART 2: PRACTICAL EXERCISES
2.1 Instructions
1. You will be instructed on the proper use of a digital balances, volumetric flask, and
serological pipette in weighing and transferring required volumes of solutions.
2. Your Demonstrator will show you how to use the volumetric flask and pipettes then you
will be given enough time to practice.
3. You will prepare two standard reagents that you will be using in your succeeding
experiments. DO NOT discard any reagents unless your demonstrator says so. Keep
the reagents properly stoppered and secured inside your lockers.
3. The glassware must be always rinsed with a small amount of the solvent to be used.
This step prevents contamination of the solution from water or other contaminants on
the glassware’s inside walls and removes the need to dry the flask.
4. Allow heated solutions to cool down to room temperature or completely dissolve solid
solutes in the solutions before using a graduated pipet to transfer these solutions. The
heat will distort the calibrated volume and any undissolved solids can clog the narrow
stem and tip.
1. The “meniscus” of a liquid is the curvature of the liquid surface in a narrow container.
The downward curving (concave) liquid surfaces (e.g. water) is read at the bottom of
the meniscus.
2. The upward curving (convex) liquid surfaces (e.g. mercury) is read from the top of the
meniscus.
3. The liquid level is read from the edge of the liquid when the shape of the meniscus is
difficult to discern such as in highly colored liquids (e.g. purple KMnO4),.
4. Read liquid levels by positioning the eye at the same level as the meniscus to avoid
parallax error.
Stopper
TC: to contain
flask 50 mL Label
Calibration
Line
Mohr pipets shown in Figure 3 have graduated volume markings increasing in value going
down the pipet. This type of pipette allows variable volumes of the liquid to be delivered. There
are two type of Mohr Pipettes: Graduated Tip and Clear Tip.
Figure 3: Mohr (Graduated) Pipette