ACID BASE TITRATION

WEEK 111
 Titrations

Titration is a general class of experiment where a known property

of one solution is used to infer an unknown property of another
solution.

Acid base titration is done for determining the unknown pH of a

solution by using another solution(titrant) with known properties.
 What is pH
pH is a measure of the hydrogen ion concentration of a
solution.
Solutions with a high concentration of hydrogen ions have a
low pH and solutions with a low concentrations of H + ions
have a high pH.

pH=-log[H+] concentration

which is read:

the pH is equal to minus the log of the H+ concentration.

 Stoichiometry
• The stoichiometry of an acid-base neutralization
reaction is the same as that of any other reaction that
occurs in solution.
• For example, in the reaction of sodium hydroxide
and hydrogen chloride, 1 mol of NaOH neutralizes 1
mol of HCl:
NaOH (aq) + HCl (aq)  NaCl (aq) + H2O (l)
• Stoichiometry provides the basis for a procedure
called titration, which is used to determine the
concentrations of acidic and basic solutions.
In the titration of an acid, a base solution with known properties is added
slowly until the acid neutralizes. There are two methods to know when the
solution has been neutrilized.

The first uses a pH meter

in the receiving flask
adding base slowly until
the pH reads exactly 7.
The second method uses
an indicator. An
indicator is an acid or
base whose conjugate
acid or conjugate base
has a color different
from that of the original
compound.
 Acid-Base Indicators
• Chemists often use a chemical dye rather than a
pH meter to detect the equivalence point of an
acid-base titration.
• Chemical dyes whose colors are affected by
acidic and basic solutions are called acid-base
indicators.
• Chemists have several choices in selecting
indicators.
– Bromthymol blue is a good choice for the titration
of a strong acid with a strong base, and
phenolphthalein changes color at the equivalence
point of a titration of a weak acid with a strong base.
RANGES AND COLORS OF PH INDICATORS
 Titration Procedure
1) A measured volume of an acidic or basic solution of unknown
concentration is placed in a beaker. The electrodes of a pH
meter are immersed in this solution, and the initial pH of the
solution is read and recorded.
2) A burette is filled with the titrating solution of known
concentration. This is called the standard solution, or titrant.
3) Measured volumes of the standard solution are added slowly
and mixed into the solution in the beaker. The pH is read and
recorded after each addition. This process continues until the
reaction reaches the equivalence point, which is the point at
which moles of H+ ion from the acid equal moles of OH- ion
from the base.
 TITRATION CURVES

A titration curve is drawn by plotting data attained during a titration, titrant volume
on the x-axis and pH on the y-axis.
 S T R O N G - S T R O N G T I T R AT I O N

In the titration of a strong acid by a strong base, a steep rise in the pH of the acid solution
indicates that all of the H+ ions from the acid have been neutralized by the OH - ions of the base.
The point at which the curve flexes is the equivalence point of the titration.

during the titration of 50.0 mL of 0.100 M HCl, a

strong acid with 0.100 M NaOH, a strong base.

The inital pH of the 0.100 M HCl is 1.00.

– As NaOH is added, the acid is neutralized and the

solution’s pH increases gradually.
– When nearly all of the H+ ions from the acid have been
used up, the pH increases dramatically with the addition
of small volume of NaOH.
– This change in pH occurs at the equivalence point of the
titration.
– Beyond the equivalence point, the addition of more
NaOH again results in the gradual increase in pH.
 S T R O N G - W E A K T I T R AT I O N

For strong-weak titrations equivalence points at pH values are not

exactly 7.
These differences occur because of reactions between the newly formed
salts and water – salt hydrolysis.
Some salts are basic (weak acid, strong base) and some salts are acidic
(strong acid, weak base).
The equivalence point here is not at a pH of 7.
Phenolphthalein is an indicator that changes color at this
equivalence point. Notice that the starting pH is different
and the region of change is smaller.
 Indicators and Titration End Point
• Many indicators used for titrations are weak acids.
– Each has its own particular pH or pH ranges over which it
changes color.
• The point at which the indicator used in a titration changes
color is called the end point of the titration.
– It is important to choose an indicator for a titration that will
change color at the equivalence point of the titration.
– Remember that the role of the indicator is to indicate to you, by
means of a color change, that just enough of the titrating solution
has been added to neutralize the unknown solution.
• Equivalence point ≠ End point!
– BUT for strong-strong titrations, the pH change is so steep and
so large, that they are approximately equal.
 Acid-Base Titrations
End Point Determination

1.) Indicators: compound added in an acid-base titration to allow

end point detection
 Color Change of Thymol Blue between pH 1 and 11

pH = 1.7 pH = 8.9
 Acid-Base Titrations
End Point Determination

2.) Choosing an Indicator

 Want Indicator that changes color in the vicinity of the equivalence point and
corresponding pH
 The closer the two match, the more accurate determining the end point will be

Bromocresol purple color change

brackets the equivalence point and
is a good indicator choice

Bromocresol green will change color

Significantly past the equivalence
point resulting in an error.
What’s the Point of a Titration Again?
• To find the unknown concentration of an acid
or a base.
• So you perform the actual titration noting the
volume you started with and how much
volume of the titrant you added and then...
 Titration Calculations: An Example
The balanced equation of a titration reaction is the key
calculating the unknown molarity. For example, sulfuric acid
is titrated with sodium hydroxide according to this equation:
H2SO4 (aq) + 2 NaOH (aq)  Na2SO4 (aq) + 2 H2O (l)
1) Calculate the moles of NaOH in the standard from the titration data:
molarity of the base (MB) and the volume of the base (VB). In other
words, MB VB = (mol/L)(L) = mol NaOH in standard
2) From the equation, you know that the mole ratio of NaOH to H 2SO4
is 2:1. Two moles of NaOH are required to neutralize 1 mol of
H2SO4. mol H2SO4 titrated = mol NaOH in standard x (1 mol H 2SO4 /
2 mol NaOH)
3) MA represents the molarity of the acid and V A represents the volume
of the acid in liters. MA = mol H2SO4 titrated/VA
 In Short Form...
MAVA = MBVB x(mol acid/mol base)
This is the mole ratio

Does this make sense? Let’s find out using the

definition of molarity (mol/L) and dimensional
analysis...
MAVA = MBVB x(mol acid/mol base)
(mol acid/L acid)x(L acid) = (mol base/L base)x(L base) x(mol acid/mol base)
mol acid = mol base x(mol acid/mol base)
mol acid = mol acid
 FINAL CALCULATIONS
Sodium Bicarbonate Titrant from
from Baking powder burette

NaHCO3 + HCl  NaCl + H2O + CO2

m= ? M= 0.1 M
mw = 84 g/mol V = 4.6 mL

1- Calculate mole number of HCl (titrant)

 mol HCl

2- Then, what is the mol number of NaHCO3 :

= = 0.00046 mol NaHCO3

3- Finally, what is the mass of NaHCO3 :

 . 84 g/mole
 FINAL CALCULATIONS

4 - Percent of NaHCO3 in the package

mbaking powder = 0.1580 g
= g

Direct proportion
In 0.1580 g baking powder If there are 0.03864 g NaHCO3
What is in 100 g x

x = 24.5 %

24.5 % of this package is NaHCO3

1- Sodium acid pyrtophosphate,
2- Sodium bicarbonate,
3- corn starch