PLAN AND DESIGN

Title: Vitamin C Concentration

Problem Statement:
“Khan goes to the market every Saturday. Over the past couple of months, Khan has been very careful to stock
up on his Vitamin C products as a way to build his immune system against the Coronavirus. He especially buys
oranges, grapefruits and kiwi and uses his juicer to make fresh fruit juices. One Saturday after making his fruit
juices, Khan looked at the pitchers of the three different juices and wondered which of the three contained the
highest Vitamin C content”.

Hypothesis:
Potassium iodide acts as an indicator that turns colourless in the presence of vitamin C or better known as
ascorbic acid. Kiwi would yield a higher concentration of ascorbic acid or vitamin C as compared to grapefruits
and oranges.

Aim:
To investigate, with the use of a titration method, the concentration of vitamin C in grapefruit, kiwi and orange.

Apparatus/Materials:
 Potassium iodide (indicator substitute)
 Grapefruit extract
 Orange extract
 Kiwi extract
 Retort stand
 White paper
 150cm3 conical flasks
 50cm3 burette
 Clamps
 Pippete
 Deionized water
 Wash bottles
 Spatula
 Electronic scale
 100cm3 beakers
 250cm3 volumetric flask
 Funnel
 100cm3 measuring cylinder
 Stirring rod
Method:
1. Set up retort stand and attach clamp firmly.
2. Rinse burette with deionized water from wash bottles and drain it into a beaker.
3. Coat burette with kiwi extract for conditioning, then drain it into a beaker.
4. Measure 50cm3 of kiwi extract and pour it into the burette up to the 50cm3 mark.
5. Measure 10g of Potassium iodide and transfer it into a beaker.
6. Pour 50cm3 of deionized water into the beaker and stir for 3-5 minutes until the Potassium iodide is
completely dissolved.
7. Transfer contents of beaker into volumetric flask and fill the flask up to the mark with deionized water.
8. Cover volumetric flask and invert 3 or 4 times, then vent the flask.
9. Pipette 25cm3 of Potassium Iodide standard solution into a conical flask and place it on a white paper
under the burette.
10. Release the kiwi extract slowly while swirling the conical flask until contents go colourless.
11. When the endpoint is reached, remove the burette and wash thoroughly with deionized water.
12. Record the volume of the kiwi extract, in cm3, that was needed to turn the Potassium iodide colourless.
13. Repeat steps 2 to 12 with grapefruit, orange extract, and water, as the control, in the burette.
14. Record all observations in a suitable table.

Diagram:
To be drawn

Variables:
 Manipulating variable: The different types of fruit juice extracts.
 Responding variable: Colour change of the Potassium iodide solution
 Controlled variable: the volume of Potassium iodide solution used, the mass of Potassium iodide.

Expected Results:
For the kiwi, grapefruit and orange extracts, the Potassium iodide would go colourless, however, in the control
which is water, the Potassium iodide would remain the same after being titrated. The first setup containing kiwi
extract would require the least volume of kiwi extract to be titrated for the Potassium iodide to turn colourless.
This would occur because the kiwi extract would have a large amount or concentration of ascorbic acid or
vitamin C. Hence, Potassium iodide would turn colourless the fastest. The second setup containing grapefruit
extract would require a higher volume than in the kiwi extract to turn the Potassium iodide colourless. This
would occur because the grapefruit has less ascorbic acid than the kiwi so it would take longer for the
Potassium iodide to turn colourless. The third setup containing the orange extract would require the highest
volume of the three to turn Potassium iodide colourless. This would occur because the orange extract would
have the least ascorbic acid and thus the slowest rate of the Potassium iodide turning colourless.
Treatment of Data:

Extracts Volume used (cm3) Colour change

Kiwi Colourless
Grapefruit Colourless
Orange Colourless
Water No colour change
Table showing the observations that would be recorded from the Experiment
Limitations:
 Temperature of surroundings
 Humidity of surroundings
Precautions:
 Wear goggles and gloves when using the extracts and Potassium iodide, exposure to eyes and skin may
cause irritation and discomfort.