Justin Jung

3/9/10
Determination of an Equilibrium Constant
Dr. Butler, Section 913
Partners: Alison Atkins
Objectives
This lab was conducted to determine the equilibrium constant of a reaction.
We used the following chemical equation:
Ethyl acetate (EtAc) + Water Ethyl alcohol (EtOH) + Acetic Acid (HAc)
The equilibrium constant Kc is calculated with this expression:
Kc = [EtOH][HAc] / [EtAc][H2O]
The understanding of equilibrium in chemistry is important because equilibrium
takes place in many natural processes where the conditions must be constant, such
as oxygen supply in blood. The titration method was also reviewed in this lab.
Procedures
The following materials were used: 50mL buret, 5mL Mohr pipets, 125 or
250mL Erlenmeyers flasks with stoppers, 50mL graduated cylinder, 3M HCl, ethyl
acetate, distilled water, and standard 1.000M NaOH.
This was a two-week lab. In the first week, three solutions with different
amounts of ethyl acetate and distilled water were prepared. In the second week, the
3M HCl solution was titrated with the standardized NaOH solution to determine the
moles of HCl and water in the solution. The three solutions that were prepared in
the first week were titrated with the NaOH solution as well.
Data
A. Titration of HCl
Trial 1
Trial 2
Concentration of NaOH (M)
1.043
Initial volume of NaOH
0.1
15.2
(mL)
Final volume of NaOH (mL)
15.2
30.45
Volume of NaOH used
15.1
15.25
(mL)
Moles of NaOH (mol)
0.0157
0.01591
Moles of HCl (mol)
0.0157
0.01591
Average of HCl (mol)
0.0158
Sample Calculations:
Trial 1:
(1.043M NaOH)(15.1mL NaOH) = 0.0157mol NaOH = 0.0157mol HCl
B. Titration of Equilibrium Solutions
Solution A

Solution B

Solution C

Concentration of
1.043
NaOH (M)
Initial volume of
0
2.5
NaOH (mL)
Final Volume of
20.5
22.2
NaOH (mL)
Volume of NaOH
20.5
19.7
used (mL)
Moles of NaOH
0.0214
0.0205
(mol)
Moles of acid (mol)
0.0214
0.0205
Sample Calculations:
Solution A:
(1.043M NaOH)(20.5mL NaOH) = 0.0214mol NaOH = 0.0214mol acid

22.2
38.8
16.6
0.0173
0.0173

C. Equilibrium Constant Calculations

Solution A
Initial moles EtAc
0.0508
(mol)
Initial moles H2O
0.259
(mol)
Moles of acid (mol)
0.0214
Moles of HCl (mol)
0.0158
Moles of HAc
0.0056
(equil.) (mol)
Moles of EtOH
0.0056
(equil.) (mol)
Moles of EtAc
0.0452
(equil.) (mol)
Moles of H2O
0.253
(equil.) (mol)
KC
0.0027
Average KC
Standard deviation
Sample Calculations:
Solution B:
Initial moles EtAc:
4.00mL x 0.893g/mL = 3.57g
3.57g x 1mol/88.0g = 0.0406mol EtAc

Solution B
0.0406

Solution C
0.0305

0.315

0.370

0.0205
0.0158
0.0047

0.0173
0.0158
0.0015

0.0047

0.0015

0.0359

0.0290

0.310

0.369

0.0020
0.0016
0.0013

0.00021

Initial moles H2O:

1.00mL x 1.00g/mL = 1.00g distilled water
1.00g x 1mol/18.0g = 0.0556mol distilled water
5.00mL HCl soln x 1.05g/mL HCl soln = 5.25g HCl solution
0.0158mol x 36.5g/mol = 0.577g HCl in HCl solution
5.25g 0.577g = 4.67g water
4.67g x 1mol/18.0g = 0.259mol water in HCl solution

0.0556mol + 0.259mol = 0.315mol H2O

Moles HAc at equilibrium:
0.0205mol (Table B) 0.0158 (Table A) = 0.0047mol HAc
Moles EtOH at equilibrium:
0.00 + 0.0047mol = 0.0047mol EtOH
Moles EtAc at equilibrium:
0.0406mol 0.0047mol = 0.0359mol EtAc
Moles H2O at equilibrium:
0.315mol 0.0047mol = 0.310mol H2O
KC = (0.0047mol HAc)(0.0047mol EtOH) / (0.0359mol EtAc)(0.310mol H2O) = 0.0020
Results
According to the equilibrium calculations for the three solutions, as the
volume of ethyl acetate decreased and the volume of water increased, the
equilibrium constants decreased. The average and standard deviation of the three
equilibrium constants was affected greatly by the equilibrium constant for Solution
C, which was significantly small compared to the other two constants. The volume
of NaOH that was used to titrate Solution C was 16.6; ethyl alcohol and acetic acid
also had significantly less moles in Solution C. Although it is certain that the
Solution C turned pink at that volume, the equilibrium constant could have come
out low because either the NaOH solution or Solution C was contaminated.