Practical : 01

Determination of Exchangeable Acidity

Introduction
• Acidic soils contain high amounts of hydrogen and aluminium in the
exchangeable complex.

• Sum of exchangeable hydrogen and aluminium in the soil is known as

exchangeable acidity.

• This gives a better indication of the total acidity of the soil than pH measurement.

• Aluminium saturation in soils gives an indication of Al toxicity.

Objective
• To determine the exchangeable acidity (H+ + Al3+) and exchangeable Al3+ of the soil
Principle
1. The acidic cations (hydrogen, aluminium) are displaced using 1 M KCl

2. The H+ + Al3+ in the soil extract are determined by titration against NaOH.

H+ (aq) + NaOH (aq) H2O + Na+ (aq)

Al3+ (aq) + 3NaOH (aq) Al (OH) 3(aq) + 3Na+ (aq)

3. After completing the titration, NaF is added which causes the following reaction.

Al (OH)3 (aq) + 3 NaF (aq) 3NaOH(aq) + AlF3 (s)

4. The released NaOH is then titrated against HCl to determine exchangeable Al3+.
NaOH (aq) + HCl (aq) NaCl (aq) + H2O
 Procedure
• Place 10g of soil sample and 30ml of 1M KCl solution in a beaker overnight
• Leach with successive 10 ml volumes of KCl into a 100ml volumetric flask using a
funnel and Whatman No 1 filter paper.

• Make up to the mark and shake well.

• Pipette 50ml of the soil extract to 250ml conical flask. Add 5 drops of
phenolphthalein indicator.

• Titrate to a pink color with 0.01M NaOH. (This measure exchangeable H+ + Al3+ )
• Bring the solution back to colorless by adding 1 drop of 0.01M HCl.

• Add 10ml of 4% NaF solution.

• Titrate with 0.01M HCl until the pink color disappears. (This measures the
exchangeable Al3+ )

10 ml of 4 % NaF Titrated with 0.01M HCl

If exchangeable Al 3+ present – Pink

Calculation
Exchangeable acidity:
H+ (aq) + NaOH (aq) H2O + Na+ (aq)
• 1 mole of NaOH reacts with 1 mole of H+
Al3+ (aq) + 3NaOH (aq) Al (OH) 3(aq) + 3Na+ (aq)
• 3 moles of NaOH reacts with 1 mole of Al3+
• If the volume used in the first titration = Y ml
• Then moles of NaOH used = 0.01mol l-1 x Y ml/1000
= Y x 10-5 moles
• Moles of H+ + Al 3+ present in 50 ml extract = Y x 10-5 moles

• Moles of H+ + Al 3+ present in 100 ml extract = Y x 10-5 x 2 moles

• Exchangeable H+ +Al 3+ in 10g soil = Y x 10-5 x 2 moles

• Exchangeable acidity of soil = Y x 10-5 x 2 x 1000/10 moles kg-1

= Y x 0.002 moles kg-1 in soil

Exchangeable Aluminium:
• 3 moles of HCl reacts with NaOH released by 1 mole of Al (OH) 3

• If the volume used in the second titration = Z ml

• Moles of HCl used = 0.01 mol l-1 x (Z ml/ 1000)
• Moles of NaOH in 50 ml = Z x 10-5 moles
• Moles of NaOH in 100 ml = Z x 10-5 x 2 moles
• Moles of Al (OH) 3 present in 100ml extract = 1/3 x Z x 10-5 x 2 moles
• Exchangeable Al3+ = 1/3 x Z x 10-5 x 2 x (1000/10) moles kg-1
= Z x (0.002/3 )moles kg-1 soil
= 1/3 x Z x 0.002 moles kg-1 soil
Discussion
• Reasons behind your results
• List any sources of experimental error
• Factors affecting the exchangeable acidity of soil
• Remediation measures for acidic soils
Reference
Westerman RL (ed.) Soil Testing and Plant Analysis, 3rd edn, pp. 73–
126. Madison, WI: Soil Science Society of America.
Thank you