School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering and Sciences

1st Quarter S.Y. 2020-2021

Experiment No. 1

Vinegar Analysis

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1. INTRODUCTION

The process involved in this activity is called titration – a method used to determine the
concentration of a solution. It is a process in which a measured volume of a solution is added to
a reaction mixture until some observable property has changed. In this experiment, the students
are asked to determine the value of percent by mass of the acetic acid present in vinegar.
 1.1 Brief Background

Vinegar is an acidic fluid produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. It
is used not just for its flavor qualities but also for its chemical properties in cooking (Moncel, 2020).
Acetic acid (CH3COOH) is commonly found on vinegar, which causes the sour taste and
unpleasant smell of the liquid. The molar concentration or the molarity of acetic acid varies on
different kinds of vinegar; the higher molarity, the more concentrated the acetic acid is and will
more likely tastes a lot sourer. As per the lower molarity, the lesser the concentration of acetic
acid is on a vinegar then the less sour the solution will be.

1.2 Objective

The objective of this experiment is to determine the percent mass of acetic acid in vinegar.

2. Data Analysis

In this activity, the students were asked to determine the percentage mass of the acetic
acid in vinegar through the process of titration. By its definition, titration is a process of
determining the concentration of an unknown solution through the aid of the concentration of
a known solution until it reaches an endpoint. Based on the experiment, vinegar served as the
unknown solution or the analyte. On the other hand, the titrant or the known solution is the
sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution while the analyte is the unknown concentration which is
the vinegar.

The titration technique was used to find the mass percentage of acetic acid. After adding
the vinegar and the NaOH solution, a substance called chemical indicator was added in order
to distinguish whether the solution is an acidic or basic solution. In the activity, phenolphthalein
was used due to the fact that this indicator has low pH ranges. Another reason for this is that
phenolphthalein could easily tell how acidic or basic the solution is by means of changing its
color and this property change on the indicator marks the endpoint of titration. This happens
because the unreacted molecules in excess of those needed to reach the endpoint reacts with
the indicator molecules, thus, the change of color happened due to the changes on the
structure of the indicator molecule (Yool, 2019).

The data obtained in the experiment was used for the computation of the values in the
given data sheet. To ensure an accurate result, the activity was done in three trials. By the
end of the experiment, the results acquired shows that the mass percentage of acetic acid in
a 5.0 g vinegar under three trials are no greater than 4%.
 School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering and Sciences
1st Quarter S.Y. 2020-2021

However, the students cannot guarantee if the data that was gathered were
accurate since it was only based on the video. Also, the measurements of the vinegar and
NaOH in the data sheet may be incorrect so it is possible that the data might be unreliable.

3.2 Data Computations

Table No. 1. Results in Analysis of Vinegar

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
Mass of Sample,
5g 5g 5g
g
Initial buret
0 0 0
reading, mL
Final buret
28.2 mL 27.9 mL 28 mL
reading, mL
Volume of
NaOH used, mL 28.2 mL 27.9 mL 28 Ml

Concentration
0.09999 0.09999 0.09999
of NaOH, mol/L
mol/L mol/L mol/L
Moles of
NaOH added, 2.82 x10-3 2.78 x10-3 2.80 x10-3
mol mol mol
mol
Moles of acetic
acid in vinegar, 2.82 x10-3 2.78 x10-3 2.80 x10-3
mol mol mol
mol

Mass of acetic 0.168 g

0.169 g 0.168 g
acid in vinegar, g

%mass of
acetic acid in 3.38% 3.35% 3.36%
vinegar, %
Average % mass
of acetic
3.364%
acid in vinegar
sample
Standard
0.014
deviation
0.424%
%RSD
 School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering and Sciences
1st Quarter S.Y. 2020-2021

In accordance to the given procedure, the mass of the vinegar was given with a
value of 5 grams. The initial and the final burette reading was also given in the data and
by knowing the difference of each trial the volume of NaOH used was determined.
𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝒂𝑶𝑯 = 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 – 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 (1)

(Trial 1) Volume NaOH = 28.2 mL – 0 mL

= 28.2 mL

(Trial 2) Volume NaOH = 27.9 mL – 0 mL

= 27.9 mL
(Trial 3) Volume NaOH = 28 mL – 0 mL
= 28 mL
The concentration of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is known in the experiment and its
value is 0.09999 mol/L as for the three trials.

To compute the moles of NaOH added, the volume of the NaOH will be converted
into Litres first and then it will be multiplied to the concentration of NaOH. The formula
for this is shown in equation 2.

𝑴𝒐𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝒂𝑶𝑯 = 𝑳 𝑵𝒂𝑶𝑯 𝒙 (𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝑵𝒂𝑶𝑯 / 𝑳 𝑵𝒂𝑶𝑯 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏) (2)

(Trial 1) Mol of NaOH = 0.0282 L x 0.09999 mol/L

= 2.82 x10-3
(Trial 2) Mol of NaOH = 0.0279 L x 0.09999 mol/L
= 2.79 x10-3
(Trial 3) Mol of NaOH = 0.0280 L x 0.09999 mol/L
= 2.80 x10-3

Using the balanced equation CH3COOH(aq) + NaOH(aq) → NaCH3CO2(aq) + H2O,

it is stated that moles of the acetic acid in vinegar is the same value from the moles of
acetic acid will be multiplied from its molar mass which is 60.05 g/mol. The computations
will be shown below.

Balanced equation:

𝑪𝑯𝟑𝑪𝑶𝑶𝑯(𝒂𝒒) + 𝑵𝒂𝑶𝑯(𝒂𝒒) → 𝑵𝒂𝑪𝑯𝟑𝑪𝑶𝟐(𝒂𝒒) + 𝑯𝟐𝑶

To compute for the mol of NaOH;

𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝑪𝑯𝟑𝑪𝑶𝑶𝑯 = 𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝑵𝒂𝑶𝑯 (3)

(Trial 1) mol CH3COOH = 𝟐. 𝟖𝟐 𝐱𝟏𝟎 − 𝟑

 School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering and Sciences
1st Quarter S.Y. 2020-2021

(Trial 2) mol CH3COOH = 𝟐. 𝟕𝟗 𝐱𝟏𝟎 − 𝟑

(Trial 3) mol CH3COOH = 𝟐. 𝟖𝟎 𝐱𝟏𝟎 − 𝟑

To compute for the mass of CH3COOH;

𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝑯𝟑𝑪𝑶𝑶𝑯 = 𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝑪𝑯𝟑𝑪𝑶𝑶𝑯 𝒙 (𝟔𝟎. 𝟎𝟓 𝒈 𝑪𝑯𝟑𝑪𝑶𝑶𝑯 / 𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝑪𝑯𝟑𝑪𝑶𝑶𝑯) (4)

(Trial 1) Mass of CH3COOH = 2.82 x10 − 3 x 60.05 g/mol

= 0.169 g
(Trial 2) Mass of CH3COOH = 2.79 x10 − 3 x 60.05 g/mol
= 0.168 g
(Trial 3) Mass of CH3COOH = 2.80 x10 − 3 x 60.05 g/mol
= 0.168 g

Accordingly, the data obtained from the previous calculations was used to determine the values
in solving for the mass of the solutions and the percentage mass as well as the standard
deviation and the relative standard deviation.

Table No.2 Trials for %mass of acetic acid

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

% mass of acetic acid in vinegar 3.38% 3.35% 3.36%

The computation for the percentage mass of the acetic acid in vinegar is given as:
𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝑯𝟑𝑪𝑶𝑶𝑯
% 𝒃𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒅 = × 𝟏𝟎𝟎 (5)
𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒓 (𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒔)

Since the mass of the vinegar is given at 5 grams, we have to solve for the molar mass Of
CH3COOH. Therefore:

𝑔 𝑔 𝑔 molar mass of 𝐶𝐻3𝐶𝑂𝑂𝐻 = (12.0

𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐶 ∗ 2) + (16.00 𝑚𝑜𝑙 0 ∗ 2) + (1.01 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐻 ∗ 4)

𝑔 𝑔 𝑔
= (24.0𝐶) + (32.0 𝑂) + (4.04 𝐻)
𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑙
= 60.04 𝑔/𝑚𝑜𝑙
 School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering and Sciences
1st Quarter S.Y. 2020-2021

The percentage mass is then calculated using the equation 5.

(Trial 1) % mass = 0 .1692 𝑔 𝐶𝐻3𝐶𝑂𝑂𝐻 × 100

5 𝑔 𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑟
= 3.38%

(Trial 2) % mass = 0 .1675 𝑔 × 100

5 𝑔
= 3.35%

(Trial 3) %mass = 0 .168 𝑔 ×

100
5𝑔
= 3.36%

With the use of the computed % mass per trials, the average % mass of the acetic acid in the
sample is:
∑ %𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔
𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 % 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 = (6)
𝑵

therefore,
3.38%+3.35%+3.36% average
% mass of acetic acid in vinegar sample =
3
= 𝟑. 𝟑𝟔𝟒%

To compute for the standard deviation; solve for the square of the difference between the values
obtained in the %mass (𝒙) and the average %mass (̅𝒙) , then divide them by the total number of
observations.

𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 (𝝈) = (7)

Table No. 3 Table of computation for the

SD Percent by mass of acetic
Trial (𝒙 − 𝒙 ) (𝒙 − 𝒙 )𝟐
Acid (%)
1 3.38% 0.02 0.0004
2 3.35% - 0.014 0.000196
3 3.36% - 0.004 0.000016

∑ = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟔𝟏𝟐

Using equation 7, solve for the value of SD as follows:

 School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering and Sciences
1st Quarter S.Y. 2020-2021

𝝈
𝜎 = 0.01428285686
𝝈 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟒

Taking the standard deviation, divide it by the value of mean then multiply it to 100.
𝑺𝑫
𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 = ∗ 𝟏𝟎𝟎 (8)
𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏

Therefore,

𝐑𝐒𝐃

RSD = 0.424%

The SD result shows that each data is closer to the mean. On the other hand, the RSD
result tell us that the calculation for each data are rather precise than inaccurate.

3. CONCLUSION

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the percent by mass of acetic acid in vinegar
by process of titration. The result of the experiment shows that for the three trials done, the acetic
acid present in the vinegar has a value of no greater than 4% and thus, it is safe for consumption.
They were able to identify the different use of solutions as they solved for the missing data.
However, it is also worthy to note that the students’ calculations might not be as accurate as
possible. This assumption of errors is due to imprecision of human judgement that may occur by
reading the measurement inaccurately from the pipette and burette. In line with this, the
researchers recommend performing the reading at a certain eye level and ensure precise
judgement in order to reduce such error. Overall, the experiment was able to show the students
how important it is to identify one solution from the other.
School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering and Sciences
1st Quarter S.Y. 2020-2021
 School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering and Sciences

1st Quarter S.Y. 2020-2021

REFERENCES (This is to support your Data

Analysis)

Moncel, B. (2020, August 18). What Is Vinegar? Retrieved from The Spruce Eats:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-vinegar-1328647

Yool, B. (2019, March 2). What Is an Indicator for Titration? Retrieved from Sciencing:
https://sciencing.com/indicator-titration-6549531.html