Titration lab report

Aim
The aim of this experiment is to find out the concentration of sodium hydroxide (NaOH).

Introduction
Titration is a lab technique that is used to determine the unknown concentration of a
solution. It is done by slowly adding a solution of known concentration to a known volume of
an unknown concentration until neutralisation happens. Neutralisation is indicated by the
colour change of phenolphthalein, an indicator that is colourless in acidic solutions and pink
in basic solutions. The solution of known concentration is called the titrant, and the solution
of unknown concentration is called the analyte or the titrand. Titration is widely used in many
areas, such as food industry, pharmacology, and environmental studies. For example,
titration can be used to find out the degree of contamination in acid rain or snow. It can also
be used in wastewater analysis to analyse the extent of contamination and chemicals in the
wastewater.

Variables
1. Dependent variable
The volume of acid (hydrochloric acid) needed to neutralise alkali (sodium hydroxide)
2. Control variable
1) The speed of swirling the conical flask while adding acid into alkali
2) The volume of sodium hydroxide solution of an unknown concentration in the
conical flask (25cm3)
3) The concentration of hydrochloric acid solution that is added to the sodium
hydroxide solution (1mol/dm3)

Equipment/Apparatus

● Phenolphthalein
● Clamp
● Stand
● 1M hydrochloric acid
● 25mL of sodium hydroxide of an unknown concentration
● Burette
● Pipette
● Conical flask
● Pipette filler
● Funnel
● White tile
Method

1. Set up the clamp and stand. Mount the burette in the clamp, making sure that it is
positioned vertically and there is enough space to position a conical flask underneath
the tip. Make sure the stopcock of the burette is closed.
2. Transfer 25cm3 of sodium hydroxide solution into a conical flask using a pipette and
pipette filler.
3. Add three drops of phenolphthalein indicator into hydrochloric acid solution and swirl
it.
4. Place the conical flask underneath the tip of the burette and a white tile under the
flask to make detecting the colour change easier.
5. Put the funnel on top of the burette and pour hydrochloric acid until sufficient amount
of titrant to complete the reaction is added.
6. Record the starting volume of hydrochloric acid in the burette. Read the volume
accurately by reading the volume from the bottom of the meniscus at eye level.
7. Turn the stopcock to allow hydrochloric acid to enter the flask. Swirl the flask quickly
and continuously.
8. When the colour of sodium hydroxide solution turns from pink to colourless, close the
stopcock.
9. Record the final volume of hydrochloric acid in the burette. Read the volume from the
bottom of the meniscus at eye level.
10. Calculate the volume of added hydrochloric acid by subtracting the final volume from
the initial volume.
11. Repeat steps 2 to 10 two more times and calculate the average volume of
hydrochloric acid.
12. Calculate the concentration of sodium hydroxide solution.
Risk Assessment

Hazard (what poses Risk (what can Prevention (what Emergency (what to
danger) happen when can be done to stop do when the risk
hazard takes place) the risk) takes place)

Chemicals (sodium Can cause eye Wear safety If exposed to,

hydroxide, irritation, skin burns goggles, lab coat remove
hydrochloric acid) and respiratory and gloves to contaminated
problems prevent touching clothing and shoes.
sodium hydroxide Wash the exposed
solution area with water for
at least 15 minutes.

Stand on the table Can fall from the Put the stand on the Wrap tape around
edge table and can hit the middle of the table the injured area and
toes cool the bruise with
an ice pack

Phenolphthalein Flammable, toxic, Wear safety Wash the exposed

can cause goggles, lab coat area thoroughly and
respiratory tract and gloves to immediately with
irritation when prevent touching water, remove
inhaled phenolphthalein contaminated
clothing

Conical flask on Can cause the glass Put the conical flask Mop up spills and
table edge to break and cut on the middle of the clean pieces of
toes table glass completely. If
Can cause the there is bleeding put
sodium hydroxide on a bandage to
solution to spill out prevent further
bleeding.

Results Table
Trial 1 Trial 2 (from Trial 3 (from Average
Julie) Luna)

Volume of hydrochloric 0.013 0.014 0.0135 0.0135

acid used to neutralise
sodium hydroxide (dm3)

Conclusion
Hydrochloric acid Sodium hydroxide

Volume (dm3) 0.0135 0.025

Number of moles 0.0135 0.013

 Concentration (mol/dm3) 1 0.54

The balanced equation of the reaction between hydrochloric acid and sodium
hydroxide is HCl + NaOH → NaCl + H2O. To calculate the concentration of sodium
hydroxide, the number of moles of hydrochloric acid had to be calculated first. It was done by
using the equation number of moles = concentration x volume. The hydrochloric acid used in
this experiment was a molar solution, meaning that the concentration is 1dm3. Multiplying the
volume (0.0135dm3) and concentration (1M) gave the number of moles of hydrochloric acid,
which was 0.0135. Then the number of moles of sodium hydroxide could also be determined
using the balanced equation. Since the molar ratio of HCl and NaOH is 1:1, 0.0135 moles of
HCl would react with 0.0135 moles of NaOH. Finally, the concentration of NaOH was
calculated by using the equation concentration = moles / volume. Dividing 0.013 by 0.025
gave the concentration of NaOH, which was 0.54 mol/dm3.
The results are fairly reliable because the experiment was repeated three times and
the average volume was calculated. It could be said that the results are reproducible,
because similar results were obtained three times even though each trial was carried out by
different people. However, the results could have been more reliable if they were
concordant, which means they are less than 0.1cm3 different to each other.

Evaluation
An accurate result was obtained by the experiment. Control variables were kept
constant throughout the experiment. For every trial, a molar solution of hydrochloric acid was
used and the volume of sodium hydroxide solution was fixed at 25cm3. Also, the white tile
under the conical flask made the point of neutralisation to be easily spotted. The
reproducibility of the data was proved because three trials that were done by three different
people showed similar results.
There would have been some random errors when reading the volume of NaOH and
HCl solutions from pipette and burette. To reduce the random error, more trials could be
done to obtain concordant results and calculate average. Also, the control variables should
be kept exactly the same during the experiment. To keep the speed of swirling the conical
flask consistent, a swirling machine could be used instead of swirling with our hands.
Consistent speed swirling will show the colour change of phenolphthalein more accurately
and it will be easier to know when the end point is reached.
Another possible improvement could be to carry out the experiment quicker to make
sure that the same number of drops of phenolphthalein is added during the trials. During the
experiment the number of drops of phenolphthalein varied because the NaOH solution
turned colourless before adding HCl when the experiment was not done quickly.