Titration

Titration: Titration is defined as a process in which the unknown concentration of a solution

is determined by measuring the volume of a standard solution required to react completely
with a definite volume of the solution of unknown concentration using a suitable indicator.

Indicator: Indicators are chemical substances which indicate the end point of a titration by
the change of color. Example- Phenolphthalein, Methyl orange, starch solution etc.

End point: The point at which the reaction of titration is just completed is called end point.

Standard Solution: The solution of accurately known strength (concentration) is called

standard solution.

Primary standard substance: It is an anhydrated substance that obtained in the purest

possible state which is not attacked by air, oxygen, CO2 or by water vapor when they are kept
open in the air. For example- Oxalic acid (COOH-COOH.2H2O), Sodium carbonate
(Na2CO3), Potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7) etc.
Secondary standard substance: It is a hydrated substance and not obtained in the pure
possible state and whose strength changes in air. For example- HCl, NaOH, H2SO4 etc.

Water hardness:

Water containing bicarbonate (HCO3-), chloride (Cl-) and sulphate (SO42-) salt of Ca and Mg
i.e. Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions present in water is called hard water. Due to presence of Ca2+, Mg2+
ions in hard water, these ions react with soap (Na-salt of higher fatty acid) and form insoluble
scum, so no foam is formed. For this reason soap is misused but clothes do not become clean.

2 CnH2n+1COONa + Ca2+ / Mg2+ → (CnH2n+1COO)2Ca/Mg + 2Na+

Soluble soap Insoluble scum

Water hardness is mainly divided into two types:
1. Temporary hardness
2. Permanent hardness

Temporary hardness:

Temporary hardness is a type of water hardness caused by the presence

of dissolved bicarbonate minerals (calcium bicarbonate and magnesium bicarbonate). This

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"temporary" hardness can be reduced either by boiling the water, or by the addition
of lime (calcium hydroxide).

Ca(HCO3)2 → CaCO3↓+ H2O + CO2

Mg(HCO3)2→ Mg(OH)2↓+ CO2

Permanent hardness:

Permanent hardness is hardness that cannot be removed by boiling. It is usually caused by the
presence of calcium sulphate/calcium chloride and/or magnesium sulphate/magnesium
chloride in the water, which do not precipitate out as the temperature increases.

Structure of EDTA (Ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid):

Structure of Oxalic acid:

Structure of Phenolphthalein Indicator:

Conductometric titration is a type of titration in which the electrolytic conductivity of the

reaction mixture is continuously monitored as one reactant is added. The equivalence point is
the point at which the conductivity undergoes a sudden change.

The conductometric titration curve is a plot of the measured conductance or conductivity

values as a function of the volume of the NaOH solution added. The titration curve can be
used to graphically determine the equivalence point.

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 Fig: Conductometric titration curve of a strong acid against a strong base

Conductivity (or specific conductance) of an electrolyte solution is a measure of its ability

to conduct electricity. The SI unit of conductivity is siemens per meter (S/m).

Dissolved Oxygen (DO): Dissolved oxygen is refers to microscopic bubbles of gaseous

oxygen (O2) that mixed in water and available to aquatic organism for respiration. Dissolved
oxygen is typically measured as a concentration of milligrams of DO per liter of water
(mg/L) i.e. parts of DO per million parts of water (ppm).

Apparatus:

Burette, Pipette, Beaker, Conical flask, DO bottle, Conductivity meter, Dropper etc.

Reagents:

Oxalic acid, NaOH, HCl, EDTA, Starch indicator, KI, Na2S2O3, CuSO4, Phenolphthalein
indicator solution and EBT indicator.

Experiment name:

1. Determination of the strength of NaOH by using standard oxalic acid solution.

2. Determination of total hardness in the supplied water sample.
3. Determination of conductance titration curve of a strong acid against a strong alkali.
4. Determination of Dissolved Oxygen (DO) of the supplied water sample.
5. Determination of the amount of Cu from a given solution by using standard Na2S2O3
solution.

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