Making Normal Solutions from Concentrated Acids
Tim LoftusThe last article covered the concept of Normal solutions in the laboratory and how tocalculate the equivalent mass of a compound. Then I described how to use the equivalentmass to make a solution of a predetermined Normality. However, the article did not addressmaking Normal solutions from concentrated mineral acids like sulfuric acid, nitric acid, andhydrochloric acid. Unlike using powdered chemicals where the chemical is simply weighedout then diluted to volume, the use of liquid chemicals to make Normal solutions requiresthe addition of a few more calculations. This article will address these extra calculations.First, it is important to describe a few aspects of concentrated mineral acids (as well as thatof many other solutions). Most of us buy concentrated acids to use as stock solutions in thelaboratory. None of these acids are one hundred percent pure. Sulfuric acid is only about97% pure, nitric is about 69.5%, and hydrochloric acid is about 37.5% pure. Manufacturersof these acids simply cannot economically make these acids more concentrated than theserespective percentages.Another important aspect of these solutions is their specific gravities. The specific gravity of a liquid is, in most cases, synonymous with the more familiar term of density. Water has aspecific gravity of 1. If the specific gravity of a liquid is greater than 1, then the liquid isheavier than water. Less than 1, and the liquid is lighter than water. The specific gravity forconcentrated sulfuric acid is about 1.84, or 1.84 times heavier than an equal volume of water. The specific gravity of concentrated nitric acid is about 1.42 and that of concentratedhydrochloric acid is about 1.19.Both the percent concentration and specific gravity values of the acid are required todetermine the amount of concentrated acid needed when making a Normal solution. Thisinformation is usually printed on a label attached to the bottle of acid. Specific values varydepending on the manufacturer and lot of acid.To make a solution of a predetermined Normality, you must first determine the equivalentmass of the chemical and then determine the grams needed of that chemical. Thesecalculations were described in the last article, “Normality.” Then you must convert thenumber of grams into its volume equivalent. Once this volume is determined, it is a simpledilution after that.Here is an example:You want to make only 250 mL of a 1 N H2SO4 solution that will be used to adjust the pH of BOD samples prior to analysis. How many milliliters of concentrated sulfuric acid do youneed to make 250 mL of a 1 N solution?To determine how many grams of sulfuric acid you will need, you will first need to calculatethe equivalent mass of H2SO4. This is the gram-formula weight divided by the number of acid hydrogens in the compound. It is 98/2 = 49.Then you can calculate the amount of grams of H2SO4 that are needed.The formula to calculate this is:Grams of compound needed = (N desired)(equivalent mass)(volume in liters desired).Substituting the above numbers into the equation, we get:grams of compound needed = (1 N)(49)(0.250 liters) = 12.25 grams.A 1 N solution requires 12.25 g of a pure sulfuric acid powder (if one existed) diluted to 250mL. But the acid is a liquid and it is not one hundred percent pure active sulfuric acid. You
1
Leave a Comment