Lab Report

Sarah Wagner
CHEM 207 – 01C
September 8, 2023

I Experiment 3: Construction of Calibration Curves

II Objective: Gather data about the molarity and absorbance of different Congo Red
solutions with the Spectronic 20 and put this into a calibration curve in order to find the
concentration of the unknown solution of Congo Red.

III Procedure IV Observations

Fill 4 100.0 mL volumetric flasks with 2.5
mL, 5 mL, 10 mL, and 15 mL of 2.00 x
10-4 M Congo Red solution, respectively,
and dilute with DI water until each reaches
the 100 mL line. Take an unknown solution
as well.
 Each solution was more red as the
amount of Congo Red in the flask
increased
 My unknown solution has a similar
color to the flask with 10 mL of
Congo Red

Use the Spectronic 200 to measure the
percent transmittance of each standard
solution and the unknown at 500 nm and
record the results.
 I have very precise measurements
of the percent transmittance of the
unknown
 The amount of Congo Red in the
flask seems to have a negative
correlation to the percent
transmittance

Put the results into a calibration curve on  My line is almost linear

Microsoft Excel and graph paper, and use  My concentrations of the unknown
these to analyze the data. found from graph paper and excel
vary slightly
V Data/Results/Calculations

Amount of Congo Standard %T A

Red Added (mL) Concentration (M)
0 0 100% 0.00
2.5 5.00*10^-4 76.7% .115
5 1.00*10^-5 55.7% .254
10 2.00*10^-5 31.0% .509
15 3.00*10^-5 16.7% .777

-log(%T) = A
-log(.767) = .115 -log(.557) = .254 -log(.310) = .509 -log(.167) = .777

My Unknown Sample: Up

Unknown %T A Concentration Concentration

Sample (from graph (from Excel)
paper)
Reading 1 31.4 .503 2.03*10^-5 M 1.9608*10^-5 M
Reading 2 31.5 .502 2.02*10^-5 M 1.9570*10^-5 M
Reading 3 31.5 .502 2.02*10^-5 M 1.9570*10^-5 M

-log(%T) = A
-log(.314) = .503 -log(.315) = .502 -log(.315) = .502

Line of Best Fit From Excel: y=.2602x-.0072, y=absorbance, x=concentration

x = (y+.0072)/.2602
x = (.503+.0072)/.2602 = 1.9608*10^-5 x = (.502+.0072)/.2602 = 1.9570*10^-5
x = (.502+.0072)/.2602 = 1.9570*10^-5

Concentration (from graph Concentration (from Excel)

paper)
Average 2.023*10^-5 M 1.9595*10^-5 M
95% Confidence 2.023*10^-5 M +/- 1.43*10^-7 1.9595*10^-5 M +/- 6.85*10^-5
Level
Avg(paper) = (2.03*10^-5 + 2.02*10^-5 + 2.02*10^-5)/3 = 2.023*10^-5
Avg(Excel) = (1.9608*10^-5 + 1.9570*10^-5 + 1.9570*10^-5)/3 = 1.9595*10^-5

s=√(∑(avg-x)^2/n-1) CL=(st)/N^(1/2)
s(paper) = √ [(2.023*10^-5 - 2.03*10^-5)^2 + (2.023*10^-5 - 2.02*10^-5)^2 +
(2.023*10^-5 - 2.02*10^-5)^2) / (3-1)] = 5.79*10^-8

CL(paper) = (5.79*10^-8)(4.3)/(3^1/2) = 1.43*10^-7

s(Excel) = √ [(1.9595*10^-5 - 1.9608*10^-5)^2 + (1.9595*10^-5 - 1.9570*10^-5)^2 +

(1.9595*10^-5 - 1.9570*10^-5)^2 / (3-1)] = 2.76*10^-8
CL(Excel) = (2.76*10^-8)(4.3)/(3^1/2) = 6.85*10^-5

VI Conclusions
The findings show that my unknown had a concentration around 2*10^-5 molarity, which
suggests that around 10 mL of the Congo Red were originally added to it. They also show
that there is a positive correlation between the concentration of Congo Red and the
absorbance of the solution.