pH determinations of solution

Baku Engineering University

Department of Chemical Engineering

CHE 2/5

Lab partners:

Chingiz Abdullayev 170107005

Maryam Jabiyeva 170107007
Aytan Aliyeva 170107001
Chinara Huseinli 170107026

Instructor: Sevinj Yagubova

Date performed: 13.05.2019

Date submitted: 23.05.2019

  Introduction
Purpose:
The purpose of this experiment is to determine pH of (NH 4)2SO 4. The pH value is
determined by one of the three method:

1. Matched indicators

2. pH paper

3. pH meter

Background:
There are millions of chemical substances in the world, some are acids, others are
bases and some are neutral.

Acids and Bases

Acids are substances that produce free hydrogen ions (H + ions) when dissolved in
water. Bases are substances that produce hydroxyl group ions (OH- ions) when
dissolved in water. Acidic solutions are rich in hydrogen ions and basic solutions are
poor in hydrogen ions.
Some acids dissociate only partly, releasing very small amounts of H + ions, and are
known as weak acids. Others dissociate completely, releasing large amounts of H + ions,
and are known as strong acids. In the same way, bases that dissociate partly are known
as weak bases and those that dissociate completely are known as strong bases.

pH of a Solution

The acidic or basic property of substances is measured in terms of pH scale. It is a

measurement of the hydrogen ion concentration. pH is defined as the negative
logarithm (base 10) of hydrogen ion concentration.

If the hydrogen ion concentration is very high, the pH value is very low. This is
determined using a scale ranging from 0-14 called the pH scale. Substances with pH
lower than 7 are acidic, those with pH equal to 7 are neutral and those with pH greater
than 7 are basic in nature.
The pH of pure water is 7.
Also salts dissociate completely into their ions when they dissolve in water. If the anion
is strong acid and cation is strong base, they don’t react with water. In this report we
look at (NH4) 2SO4. NH4+ is a weak base and SO 42- is a strong acid.

(NH4)2SO 4 NH4+ + SO42-

NH3 + H 2O  NH4+ + OH-

Measurement of pH
pH of a solution is measured using pH indicators. pH indicators are substances that
changes color when in contact with acidic, basic or neutral solutions.
Let us discuss some pH measurement methods.

pH paper
pH paper is a strip of special paper that is prepared by dipping the strip in different
chemical compounds and then drying it. It can be used to find the approximate pH of
any solution. These paper changes color when immersed in acidic or basic solutions. To
determine the pH, the pH paper is dipped in a given sample solution and the color
developed in the paper is compared with the color chart and the approximate pH of the
solution can be identified. It is commercially available as test papers.

Universal Indicator
Universal indicator is a pH indicator composed of different chemical compounds. When
the indicator is poured in the sample solution, the mixture obtained exhibits a smooth
color change over a pH value ranging from 1-14 that indicates the acidic or basic
property of the solution. It is commercially available as test solutions.
pH Meter
pH meter is an electronic instrument consisting of a special bulb that is sensitive to
hydrogen ions that are present in the test solution. The signal produced by the bulb is
amplified and sent to an electronic meter connected to the bulb, which measures and
display the pH reading. It gives more precise values than the pH papers.
For very precise measurement, the pH meter should be calibrated before each
measurement. The calibration should be performed with at least two buffer solutions
with known pH. For general purposes, buffer solutions with pH 4 and pH 10 are used.
For more precise measurements, three buffer solution calibrations are preferred.
After each single measurement, the bulb is rinsed with distilled water or to remove any
traces of solution being measured. Then the bulb is blotted with a blotting paper to
remove remaining water that could dilute the sample and alter the reading. When not in
use, the bulb must be kept wet at all times to avoid dehydration of the pH sensing
membrane.

 Equipments and materials

Baker Volumetric flask Test tubes and stands Droppers pH paper

pH meter pH indicators watch glass (NH4)2SO4 Washing bottle

  Safety
Be careful with the ingredients

 Procedure
In our experiment, the tactic utilized in order to see the hardness of water is called
complexometric volumetric analysis. This experiment consists of three components.

1. pH determination using indicators

2. pH determination using pH paper
3. Determination of pH with a pH meter

We began with preparation of ordinary (NH 4)2SO 4 answer. Reactants used are (NH 4)2SO 4
salt and water. 0.3311g (NH4) 2SO4 was weighed within the 25 mL flask.

First of all we take 3 test tubes, and wash them. Then we add some of the solution to
each test tube. After that we add 1 drops of indicator through the droppers. We added
thymol blue to one of the test tube, which pH was 8.5 because of the color change. We
add bromthymol blue to another test tube and we determine its pH by changing the color.
And the color received indicates that its pH is 6.5. Finally, we add methyl orange to the 3 rd
test tube, and we also determine its pH and see that its pH is above 4.5. So it does not
change its color.

In the next step, we use pH paper. So we add a little bit of solution mix to the watch
glass. We then take pH paper and dip the solution. Wait a while and set pH for paper color
change. And we see that the pH of the solution is 5.

In the last step, we use a pH and temperature detector. First of all, we clean these
devices with washing bottle and then put them in the beaker. The figure shown on the
device becomes the pH of the solution and we also know the temperature above the
thermometer.

After the experiments we wash all the tools which we use and place them in their place.

 Calculations:
 Needed solutions:
 0.1M (NH4)2SO4
 25 mL distilled water
Preparation:
Firstly, we had to prepare (NH 4)2SO4 solution of 0.1M of 25mL. For preparation, we
used the following formula:
𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒(𝑛)
𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦(𝐶) =
𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛(𝑉)

1. n((NH4) 2SO4)=C((NH 4)2SO4×V((NH4)2SO4

 n((NH4) 2SO4=0.1M×25×10-3L=25×10-4
2. m((NH4)2SO4=n((NH4) 2SO4×M((NH4)2SO4 M((NH4)2 SO4=132g
-4
m(NH4) 2SO4=25×10 ×132g=0,33g
Note: As it seems, we needed 0,33g (NH4)2SO4, but we took 0,3311g. It
means 0,0011g salt is excess.
For prepare the 25mL (NH4) 2SO4 solution, we added distilled water to the salt.
Note: When we prepare the solution, we added a little more water.

Main calculations:

For determining the PH of the (NH 4)2SO 4, we need some equations. (NH 4)2SO 4 is
consists of week base (NH3OH is a week base) and strong acid(H 2SO4 is a strong
acid). SO42- does not hydrolyze, but NH 4+ does hydrolyze and producing an acidic
solution.
NH4+ + H2O → NH3 + H3O+
Initial concentrations: 0.1 M 0M 0M
Changes: -x M +x M +x M
Equal concentrations: (0.1-x) M xM xM

Let [H3O+]=x
To obtain the value of Ka we must use given equation:
𝐾𝑤
𝐾𝑎 =
𝐾𝑏
Kw=[H3O+][OH-]=1.0×10-14
pKw=pH+ pOH=14.00
The value of Kb(NH3) is equal 1.8×10-5.
𝐾𝑤 1.0 × 10−14
𝐾𝑎 = = −5 = 5,6 × 10−10
𝐾𝑏 1.8 × 10
[𝑁𝐻3 ][𝐻3𝑂+ ] 𝑥·𝑥 𝑥2
𝐾𝑎 = = = = 5.6 × 10−10
[𝑁𝐻4 + ] 0.1 − 𝑥 0.1 − 𝑥

Assume that, x << 0.1 and 0.1 – x ≈ 0.1.

𝑥 2 = 0.1 × 5.6 × 10−10 = 5.6 × 10−11
 𝑥 = [𝐻3 𝑂+ ] = √5.6 × 10−11 = 7.5 × 10−6

Now we can find pH of the salt solution using following equation:

𝑝𝐻 = − log[𝐻3 𝑂+ ] = − log(7.5 × 10−6 )

pH=5.1

 Result
As a chemical engineer, our purpose is to determine pH in (NH 4)2SO 4. We take pH
meter, pH paper, and matched indicators. We did some calculations and find that pH is
approximately 6.

 Discussion
In this experiment, we can do some errors, because we have to take 250mL water but
it was a little bit more than 250mL. And also some mistakes can have, because we look
3 different method and we did calculations and got approximate answer.

Our calculations show that pH is less than 7 and it is approximately 6. If we get answer
less than 7 it can be correct.

 Conclusion
In this lab, we did some experiments about how to find pH of solution. Our calculations
show that our solution is contain salts of weak bases and strong acids ((NH 4)2SO 4)).
We find pH~6.