March 2022

pH curves
(AHL)
Chemistry
 BREAKING NEWS!!!

Source : https://www.freep.com Source : https://www.freep.com

How to solve problem!

We need to know concentration

of HCl!

How to do this ?

Source https://www.khanacademy.org/
How do we define Titration

Titration! is a technique to determine the concentration of an unknown solution

Titrant:
solution of a known concentration, which is added to another solution
whose concentration has to be determined

Titrate or analyte:
the solution whose concentration has to be determined.

Source https://www.khanacademy.org/
Equivalence point:
point in titration at which the amount of titrant added is just enough to
completely neutralize the analyte solution. At the equivalence point in an
acid-base titration, moles of base = moles of acid and the solution only
contains salt and water.
Endpoint: :
refers to the point at which the indicator changes color in an acid-base
titration.
Buffer Solution

Source : Bylikin et al., 2014

 Buffer Solution
1. Acid buffer solutions
An acid buffer solution consists of a weak acid (e.g. ethanoic acid) and its conjugate base supplied as
a salt of that weak acid (e.g. sodium ethanoate).
For example : the mixture of CH3COOH and CH3COONa

2. Basic buffer solutions

A basic buffer solution consists of a weak base (e.g. ammonia) and its conjugate acid supplied as a
salt of that weak base (e.g. ammonium chloride).
For example : The mixture of NH3 and NH4Cl
Salt Hydrolisis

Source : Bylikin et al., 2014

Hydrolysis
Salt Base ACid pH
NaCl NaOH (strong base) HCl (Strong acid 7
CH3COONa NaOH( strong base ) CH3COOH (weak acid ) >7
NH4Cl NH4OH ( weak base) HCl (strong acid ) <7

MX  Salt that dissolve in water

M : cation For example :
X : Anion CH3COONa (salt, MX)
M : Na+
For salt that dissolve in water, MX will fully ionized: X : CH3COO-

M = M+ Hydrolysis :
X = X- CH3COO- + H2O  CH3COOH(aq) + OH-
Na+ + H2O  no reaction
Hydrolysis : The reaction between ionic salt and water .
M+ + H2O  MOH + H+
X- + H2O  HX + OH-
pH curve
A titration curve is the plot of the pH of the analyte solution versus the volume of
the titrant added as the titration progresses.

Strong acid and strong Weak acid and strong Weak base and strong Weak base and weak
base base acid acid
Titration of strong acid with strong base

Source https://www.khanacademy.org/
Titration of strong acid with strong base

Let’s Analize this figure

Source : Bylikin et al., 2014

Let’s analyze!
Point 1: No NaOH added yet, so the pH of the analyte is
low (it predominantly contains H3O+ from dissociation of
HCl).

Point 2: This is the pH recorded at a time point just

before complete neutralization takes place.

As NaOH is added dropwise, H3O+, starts getting

consumed by OH- produced by dissociation of NaOH.
Analyte is still acidic due to predominance of H3O+  ions.

Source https://www.khanacademy.org/
Let’s analyze!
Point 3: This is the equivalence point (halfway up the steep
curve). At this point, moles of NaOH added = moles of HCl in
the analyte. At this point, H3O+ ions are completely neutralized by
OH- ions. The solution only has salt (NaCl) and water and
therefore the pH is neutral i.e. pH = 7.

Point 4: Addition of NaOH continues, pH starts becoming basic

because HCl has been completely neutralized and now excess of
OH-  ions are present in the solution (from dissociation of NaOH).

Source https://www.khanacademy.org/
Compare these figures!

Source https://www.khanacademy.org/
Titration of
Weak acid and
strong base
1 Point 1
No NaOH added yet, so the pH of the analyte is
low (it predominantly contains H3O+ from
dissociation of CH3COOH). But acetic acid is a
weak acid, so the starting pH is higher than
what we noticed in case 1 where we had a
strong acid (HCl).
2 Point 2
This is the pH recorded at a time point just before
complete neutralization takes place.
As NaOH is added dropwise, H3O+  slowly starts
getting consumed by OH (produced by dissociation of
NaOH). But analyte is still acidic due to predominance
of H3O+  ions.
Source https://www.khanacademy.org/
Let’s analyze

1 Point 3

Point 3: This is the equivalence point (halfway up the steep curve).

At this point, moles of NaOH added = moles CH3COOH in the
analyte. The H3O+  are completely neutralized by OH- ions. The
solution contains only CH3COONa salt and H2O

Source https://www.khanacademy.org/
Let’s analyze

1 Point 4

Point 4: Beyond the equivalence point (when sodium

hydroxide is in excess) the curve is identical to HCl-
NaOH titration curve (1) as shown below.

Source https://www.khanacademy.org/
Hair product should maintain standard
level of ammonia!

How to determine the exact

amount of ammonia?

Source : https://wolipop.detik.com
The titration of a
weak base with a
strong acid
Source : Bylikin et al., 2014
Titration of
Weak base and
strong acid

1 Point 1 2 Point 2

The weak base gives an initial pH reading
around 11.0.
• As the weak base begins to be neutralized, the
ammonium ion NH4+, the conjugate acid, is
created resulting in a buffer that resists change in
pH. Ammonia is in equilibrium with the
ammonium ion.
• There is a gradual fall in the pH due to the
buffering effect as the titration approaches the
equivalence point Source https://www.khanacademy.org/
Titration of
Weak base and
strong acid

3 Point 3 4 Point 4

The pH fall ls sharply a t the equivalence point With no remaining base to be neutralized, the curve
(pH< 7) . The equivalence point is the result of flattens and ends at a low pH due to the presence of
salt hydrolysis. excess strong acid

Source https://www.khanacademy.org/
The titration of a weak
base with a weak acid

Source : Bylikin et al., 2014

Let’s analyze

1 Point 1 2 Point 2
Point 1: The weak base gives an initial pH reading~ 11.0. Point 1: The change in pH throughout the titration is
very gradual.

Source : Bylikin et al., 2014

Let’s analyze

3 Point 3
Point 3: The point of inflection in the pH curve is not as
steep as in the previous pH curves. The point of
equivalence is difficult to determine, so this kind of
titration has little or no practical use
4 Point 4
Point 4: With no remaining base to be neutralized, the
curve 'flattens and ends at a pH tl1at indicates the
presence of a weak acid.

Source : Bylikin et al., 2014

Let’s analyze
How to know/ how do we see The
equivalent point!

If we don’t have pH meter, how

should we do?

Figure pH meter
Indicators!
Indicator
An indicator is typically a weak acid or a weak base that
displays a different colour in acidic or alkaline
environments. Many indicators in aqueous solutions
behave as weak acids:

Source: Owen, 2014

pH range indicator
The pH range of an indicator is the pH values between
which the indicator has intermediate colours because
comparable amounts of the un-ionised and ionised forms
are present

Source: Owen, 2014

Let’s practice
Let’s practice
Indicator Indicator pH Acidic colour Alcali colour
Methyl orange 3.1 - 4.4 red yellow

Bromophenol blue 2.9 - 4.6 yellow blue

Bromocresol green 3.8 - 5.4 yellow blue

Methyl red 4.2 - 6.3 red yellow

Bromothy,ol blue 6.0 - 7.6 yellow blue

Phenol red 6.8 - 8.4 yellow red

phenolptalien 8.2 - 10.0 colourless pink

Table The pH range and colours of some indicators (Source : Owen,

2014)
What indicator that suit for titration of strong acid and strong base?
Let’s
Practice!
Let’s Practice!