ACID-BASE TITRATIONS

231

14

12

10

8b

PH

1111

11

1111

11

10 20 30 40 50 60

ml. of 0.10 M NaOH added

70 80

Fig. xm-3 Titration of Several Weak

Acids with a Strong Base

An interesting general view of titrations of weak acids with

a strong base may be seen from Fig. XIII-3 in which the titra-

tions of several weak acids, of increasing pKa values, with a

strong base, are shown. If 0.10 M solutions are employed, then

it would appear that for all practical purposes, acids whose pKa

values are greater than about 8 may not be titrated with any

degree of accuracy, using a visual indicator, since the vertical

region in the vicinity of the equivalence point is too small in

such cases.

An examination of Fig. XIII-3 also serves to demonstrate the

possibility of titrating a mixture of acids whose pKa values are

widely separated. Thus at a pH slightly greater than 4, the titra-

tion of HSO4" is essentially complete whereas that of the HOCl

is just beginning. Using a pH meter as an indicator we could

very easily titrate separately HSO4~ and HOCl in a mixture of

the two.

XHI-3. TITRATION OF WEAK MONOACIDIC BASES WITH

STRONG ACIDS

The derivation of titration curves for weak monoacid bases

vs. strong acids is quite similar to that of the weak acid given

in Sec. XIII-2. A mixture of a base B and HCl for example

may be described by the following charge and mass balance

equations:

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