In this experiment, titration method was used to determine the unknown concentration of sodium

hydroxide (NaOH). Hydrochloric acid (HCl) was used as titrant, and NaOH as analyte. Both HCl and
NaOH are colourless, to observe the physical change, phenolphthalein was added into analyte as pH
indicator to show colour change when reaching end point. Phenolphthalein has the transition end
between pH 8.3 to 10 (colourless to pink colour). For this experiment, the analyte will undergo
colour change from pink to colourless when end point was reached. This is because base was used as
analyte, the analyte will undergo pH change from basic to neutral.

The reaction of HCl and NaOH:

HCl ( aq ) + NaOH ( aq ) → NaCl ( aq ) + H 2 O(l)

The reaction between acid and base will produce salt and water. In this experiment, the reaction
between HCl (acid) and NaOH (base) produce NaCl (salt) and H20 (water). After the titration, a clear
solution was left in conical flask, no precipitation was observed because of the salt, NaCl formed is
soluble in water.

Three trials of titration were gone through in this experiment and the average volume of HCl (titrant)
used was calculated from the results of 3 trials. The unknown concentration of NaOH solution can be
calculated by the following method. First, the amount of HCl used, in mole, is calculated from known
information, the molarity of HCl and average volume of HCl used in titration. By multiplying molarity
of HCl and average volume of HCl used, the amount of HCl used, in mole, can be obtained. Next,
from the chemical equation shown above, we know that the reaction of HCl and NaOH is following
the 1: 1 ratio, so the amount of mol of NaOH will be the same as amount of mole of HCl used in
titration, hence we can determine the amount of mole of NaOH used during titration. The volume of
NaOH used was fixed to 20 ml, hence by dividing amount of mole of NaOH to 0.02 l, the molarity of
NaOH can be determined.

The results from the 3 trials of titration are, 18.8 ml, 18.5 ml, 18.6 ml. The differences between 3
trials are acceptable. Because there will be some error, due to the limit of accuracy of apparatus and
random error from us who conduct experiment. For example, delayed reaction when titration
causing more titrant added into analyte, and fail to get reading from apparatus by following the
correct eye level. To increase the accuracy of data, the titration was carried out 3 times to get the
average data. By doing so, the errors can be minimised.

In this experiment, a few precautions need to be paid attention to. Glove, goggle, lab coat need to
be worn because we are duelling with acid and base. During the transferring of acid into burette, we
should not pour the acid higher than our head, adjust the burette to lower position if necessary.
Besides, when using apparatus with scale, we should make sure the eye level is parallel to the scale
to obtain the most accurate reading.

A few modifications can be done to improve this experiment. First, instead of using 10 ml pipette for
2 times to transfer 20 ml analyte into Erlenmeyer flask, 20 ml pipette can be used to maximise the
accuracy. Next, when titration close to the end point (can be detected when the pink colour starts to
fade), instead of continuing titrating until analyte become colourless, we can stop titration for 10 to
20 seconds to make sure the reaction is complete, continue titration if end point is not reached. This
step can minimise the excess titrant added into analyte. Be noted that the analyte should be swirled
throughout the titration.