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Chemistry:: Quantitative Analysis
Chemistry:: Quantitative Analysis
Analysis
Finding the
Concentratio
n of
SULPHURIC
ACID
INTRODUCTION:
This procedure is useful to find the concentration level of a
concentrated solution of Sulphuric Acid which perhaps is old and
is not as strong as its original concentration marked on the
commercial bottle. Srong acids easily loose their concentration
by decompostion and absorption of moisture from air. The
procedure is hence aimed for concentrated solution more than
1Molar. The calculation giives the following results:
PRINCIPLE:
Specific Gravity
Specific gravity is easily found by measuring the weight of a
fixed volume of acid and calculated it by the formula Mass /
Volume.
Molarity [M]
The Principle of this test is to dilute the acid and find the titrate
volume of known molarity of NaOH required to neutralize the
Acid dilution. The reaction is follows:
ACID (aq) + ALKALI (s) --- > SALT (aq) + WATER (l)
H2SO4 (aq) + 2NaOH (aq) --- > Na2SO4 (aq) + 2H2O (l)
From the NaOH titre volume, the number of moles of NaOH are
calculated. From the reaction above it can be noted that the
ratio [ Acid : Alkali ] = 1 : 2, and thus the moles of H2SO4 are
half that of NaOH. The moles of acid present in the volume
titrated are converted to Molarity of the Acid after taking into
account the dilution.
Pr oce dur e
Tare an empty dry 100mL beaker over a balance Transfer carefully 10ml (or 25ml) of
Acid solution using a volumetric pipette into the beaker. Note the volume used and
weight read out. Repeat this for 2 more times to have 3 weight readings and average
out the result. One can tare the weight after the previous reading and simply add over
the next aliquot volume of acid and take the new weight.
Volume (mL)
Pr oce dur e
3) Titration
Transfer 20mL of the H2SO4 dilution to three 100mL flasks.
Note the volume of acid used [V-H2SO4].
Add few drops of indicator such as Bromothymol blue which has the following pH
colour properties
pH < 5 -> pale yellow
2NaOH (aq) + H2SO4 (aq) --- > Na2SO4 (aq) + 2H2O (l)
in 1000mL NaOH there are 0.5 moles
in 72.8mL NaOH, moles present (72.8 x 0.5) / 1000 ( = 0.0364
moles NaOH)
From the equatoion above:
2 mole NaOH : 1 mole H2SO4
0.0364 moles NaOH : 0.0182 moles H2SO4
2 x [V-H2SO4]
Short Cut : Since the dilution factor [Dil] and the Volume of Acid
used [V-H2SO4] are both 20, they cancel each other out and so the
Molarity of H2SO4 in this case is [M-NaOH] x [Vol-NaOH] / 2 = (0.5 x
72.8 ) / 2 = 18.2M !!
Example 4 : Solution U - 90% H2SO4 for Milk Testing from 1995
CONCLUSIONS
Summary of Results:
Specific
Test Molarity Percentage
Sample Conc. H2SO4 Solution Gravity
Date (M) w/w (%)
(g/mL)
Solution S - G.P.R. Conc. H2S04
? 1997 1.82 18.2 97.8
[98%]
Solution S2 - G.P.R Conc. H2S04 Aug
1.77 15.15 84.5
[98%] (= Sol. S tested in 2009) 2009
Solution T - General Purpose Conc. Aug
1.61 11.6 70.6
H2SO4 2009
Solution U1 - 90% H2SO4 for Milk
1997 1.80 16.8 91.5
Testing *
Solution U - 90% H2SO4 for Milk Aug 1.79 16.2 88.7
Testing (= Sol. U1 tested in 2009) 2009
* Calculations not given for this test