Jasmin Barajas

AP Chemistry

Period 1

May 24, 2011

Determining of Weak Acids Lab Report

Purpose –

The purpose of this lab is to identify the unknown substance by first identifying the pH which
would equal the pKa by titrating using a strong base.

Procedure –

- First begin by measuring about 0.2

- g of unknown A.
- Measure 50 mL of distilled water into a beaker and add the unknown acid and mix well
until dissolved.
- Pour 25 mL of the acid solution into an Erlenmeyer flask and add 3 drops of
phenolphthalein to the acid solution.
- Add NaOH drop wise while swirling the solution until it turns to a pink color.
- At this point add the solution back to the beaker and measure the pH.
- Repeat the process using unknown B.

Data and Results –

pH pKa Ka
Unknown A 4 6 10-6
Unknown B 5 7 10-7

Conclusion –
To determine what the unknown is, one can find the K a value of the solute and find the substance
with a corresponding Ka value. To find Ka we can titrate 25 mL of the acid solution with a strong
acid such as 0.10 M NaOH and add it back to the other 25 mL of the acid solution. Doing this
results in a solution where one has equal molar amounts of weak acid and it’s conjugate (salt).
The pH of this solution is equal to pK a and using Ka=-logKa we can find the value of K a. Using
these methods, A was determined to be benzoic acid due to it’s K a while B was determined to be
sodium dihydrogen phosphate because of the same reason as A.

Theory Analysis –