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Chemistry- Investigatory project

To detect the presence of Citric acid in Lemon

Sunay Pandya, 12-A, Adm. no. - 11947

Acknowledgement

Firstly, I would like to thank my Chemistry teacher, Mr. Anup Joshi for guiding me
through the course of this project, and for being an exemplary teacher, which
significantly helped me. I would also like to thank my parents for supporting me
throughout and being there to help. Last but not least I would like to thank my friends for
their input and constant support, this wouldn’t have been possible without their
inferences.
Index
• Introduction
• Theory
• Requirements
• Procedure
• Observations
• Conclusion
• Pictures
Introduction
• The lemon (Citrus limon) is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering
plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam),
Northern Myanmar or China.
• The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes
throughout the world, primarily for its juice, which has both culinary and
cleaning uses. The pulp and rind are also used in cooking and baking. The
juice of the lemon is about 5% to 6% citric acid, with a pH of around 2.2, giving
it a sour taste.
• Its binomial name is Citrus limon. It is very popularly used to treat scurvy,
frequently occurring in seamen.
Citric Acid
Citric Acid

• Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical

formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. It is a colourless weak organic
acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an
intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in the metabolism of
all aerobic organisms.
• Citric acid occurs in a variety of fruits and vegetables, most
notably citrus fruits. Lemons and limes have particularly high
concentrations of the acid.
Theory
Citric acid can be extracted from lemon by simply squeezing and taking out all of its juice. The
major component of the juice is The citric acid is estimated volumetrically, by titrating the
solution with NaOH solution.

A reagent, called the titrant, of a known concentration (a standard solution and volume is used to
react with a solution of the analyte or titrant, whose concentration is not known.

Using a calibrated burette or chemistry pipetting syringe to add the titrant, it is possible to
determine the exact amount that has been consumed when the endpoint is reached.

The endpoint is the point at which the titration is complete, as determined by an indicator. This is
ideally the same volume as the equivalence point
Materials required

• Forty fold diluted lemon juice (1 + 39; 12.5ml + 487.5ml = 500ml)

• Beaker(s)
• Pipette
• Burette
• Conical flask
• Sodium Hydroxide solution (0.1M)
• Phenolphthalein indicator
• Funnel
 Procedure
• Using a pipette transfer 10.0 mL of the diluted lemon juice into a clean conical flask.
Add few drops of phenolphthalein indicator.
• While continuously swirling the flask to ensure thorough mixing, run the NaOH
solution from the burette. Initially, a red/pink colour will appear at the point where
NaOH comes in contact with the solution in the flask, but this colour quickly
disappears.
• As the endpoint nears, the colour will disappear more slowly. Eventually the NaOH
should be added drop by drop until the red/pink colour caused by one drop of NaOH
remains.
 Procedure

• Read the final volume of the burette and write volume of NaOH used.
• Refill the burette and complete the titration two more times
Observations

• Volume of lemon juice extract taken: 50ml

• Volume of solution of lemon juice taken: 50ml + 450ml = 500ml (10%v/v)

• Molarity of NaOH taken: 0.1 Molar

• End point: colour changes to pink

 Initial Burette
Serial No. Final reading NaOH Volume Concordant reading
reading

1. 50 ml 46.6 3.4

2. 50 ml 47 3 3

3. 50 ml 47 3
Calculations

• Using equation:- M1*V1 = 3(M2*V2) -> M1 = (3*M2*V2)/ V1

M1= to find, V1 = 10/40 = 0.25ml, M2 = 0.1M, V2 = 3ml

M1 = 3*0.1*3/0.25

M1 = 3.6 Molar

Strength = M1*MW -> 3.6*192.124

Strength = 691.6464 g/L

Precautions

Spillage of chemicals should be checked

While measuring the volume of NaOH, eye must be at the same level as the meniscus
and reading has to be taken at the lower meniscus as NaOH is a transparent solution

Rinsing all the equipment used with distilled water is mandatory before and after
completing the experiment
Conclusion

• The molarity of citric acid in lemon juice was found to be

3.6M.
• The strength of citric acid in lemon juice was found to be
691.6464 g/L.
Bibliography

• wikipedia.en.org
• pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
• www.academia.edu