Tanner Yost

Chem 1A
Section 4327
Locker: A712
Instructor: O. Raola / J. Crowley
Due Date: 03/09/2016

Experiment 4
Identification of an Unknown Diprotic Acid
Through the Method of Titration

Purpose

The purpose of this lab was to identify an unknown diprotic acid through
determination of its molar mass, using the titration method against a known
base.

Procedure
Safety and Environmental Precautions
When working with acids and bases it is important to remember their nature.
Keeping lab aprons and safety glasses on at all times is essential. In addition,
avoid splashes with either the acid or base solutions.
Dispose of all acid and base materials not into the sink but into the waste
bins in the back of the room.
Reagents and Materials
Solid potassium hydrogen phthalate, KHC8H4O4 (KHP)
~0.5 mol/L NaOH solution
Phenolphthalein indicator
Unknown weak acid

Data
Standardization of NaOH
Mass of KHP
(g)
Buret final
reading (mL)
Buret initial
reading (mL)
Volume of
NaOH used
(mL)
Moles of NaOH
Equivalent
weight of acid
(g)
Molarity
Avg M
Standard
deviation (M)
Percent

Trial 1
0.8165

Trial 2
0.8233

Trial 3
0.8204

39.76

39.55

39.01

0.12

0.00

0.03

39.64

39.55

38.98

0.004002 mol
228.8

0.004035 mol
231.5

0.004021 mol
233.9

0.1010 M
0.10203 M
0.001

0.1020 M

0.1031 M

0.98%

relative
standard
deviation
Titration of Unknown Diprotic Acid, unknown #4
Mass of
unknown
Buret final
volume
Buret initial
volume
Volume of
NaOH used
Number of
moles of NaOH
Equivalent
weight of acid
(g/mol)
Molar mass of
acid
Percent
variance
(accepted:
75.0 g/mol)
Standard
deviation
(g/mol)
Percent
relative
standard
deviation

Trial 1
0.2403 g

Trial 2
0.3086 g

Trial 3
0.3062 g

31.22 mL

40.11 mL

39.90 mL

0.00 mL

0.00 mL

0.00 mL

31.22 mL

40.11 mL

39.90 mL

0.003184 mol

0.004091 mol

0.004070 mol

75.47 g/mol

75.43 g/mol

75.23 g/mol

150.94 g/mol

150.87 g/mol

150.47 g/mol

0.62%

0.57%

0.30%

0.129 g/mol

0.17%

Calculations
Determining moles of KHP in standardization (each trial included):

1mol KHP
0.8165 g KHP
=0.004002 mol KHP=mol OH
204.0 g KHP


1mol KHP

0.8233 g KHP
=0.004035 mol KHP=mol OH
204.0 g KHP

1 mol KHP
0.8204 g KHP
=0.004021mol KHP=mol OH
204.0 g KHP
Determining molarity of NaOH solution given above calculation
(each trial included):
M=

mol
L

M=

0.004002mol KHP
=0.1010 M
0.03964 L

M=

0.004035 mol KHP

=0.1020 M
0.03955 L

M=

0.004021mol KHP
=0.1031 M
0.03898 L

Determining how much acid to use to react with 40 mL of base:

mol
0.0400 L 0.1020
=0.00408 mol OH
L
0.00408 mol

75.47 g
=0.30792 g
1 mol H 2 A

Finding moles of unknown acid (each trial included):

0.03122 L 0.1020

mol
=0.003184 mol acid
L

0.04011 L 0.1020

mol
=0.004091 mol acid
L

0.03990 L 0.1020

mol
=0.004070 mol acid
L

Determining the molar mass and equivalent weight of acid (each

trial included, steps combined)

H +
=150.94 g/ mol
1 mol H 2 A
0.2403 g
g
=75.47

0.003184 mol
mol

2 mol

H +
=150.87 g /mol
1 mol H 2 A
0.3086 g
g
=75.43

0.004091mol
mol

2 mol

H +
=150.47 g /mol
1 mol H 2 A
0.3062 g
g
=75.23

0.004070 mol
mol

2 mol

Discussion
Titrations
A titration is a process in which you first standardize a solution of NaOH that
you have created by diluting around 0.5 M NaOH. You do this by diluting
approximately 80 mL of 0.5 M solution with 325 mL of deionized water. You
now have a solution that is approximately 0.1 M. The purpose of
standardizing your solution is to get a precise measurement of its molarity.
The way that you standardize this solution is to titrate it against a known
acid with a precise mass measurement, and in this case we are using
potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP). The phenolphthalein indicator tells you
when you have gone past the equivalence point, where the number of moles
of acid equals the number of moles of base, which is a key point in this lab.
Since you know how much you measured out (you calculated the amount
needed to react with 40 mL of NaOH) and you know what the acid is, you
know how many moles of this acid you have. Consequently, since you know
how many moles of this acid you have and since you know when you have
reached the equivalence point when titrating, you will know how many moles
of base you have used because when the equivalence point has been
reached, the number of moles of base equals the number of moles of acid.
Finally with all of this information, you can calculate the molarity of the base.
Titration of unknown acid
The process for the titration of the unknown acid is a similar process, and is
in fact the exact same idea of titrating to a pale pink endpoint. Except this
time instead of figuring out the molarity of your base, you are figuring out
the molar mass of the acid, so you are in a sense going backwards. Your

first titration is using around 0.2 0.3 grams of the unknown acid. Once you
do this titration and perform the calculations, you will then calculate the
amount of acid needed in order to use 40-42 mL of base, which makes the
results more accurate (and in my findings, it really did).
Accuracy and precision of results
Having an end variance of 0.30% and a deviation of 0.17% my results were
fairly good. Titrations are procedures that require high precision and
concentration when performing the procedure because going far over the
very precise equivalence point will produce very off results, because the mL
used will be much higher than it should be. For example, if we measured that
we used one additional mL in the second trial of the unknown acid, our
results would be as follows:
0.04111 L 0.1020

mol
=0.004193mol acid
L

0.3086 g
=73.59 g /mol
0.004193mol
This shows that if we let the titration go too far past the equivalence point
our results will be off by around 1.84 g, which is a significant error. We must
note that when the solution has turned pink, the equivalence point has
already gone past. There is no way to get it exactly on the equivalence point,
due to the nature of the way the phenolphthalein indicator works.
Potential errors
Errors for this lab are fairly straightforward. When making the NaOH solution
I found it fairly strange to fill the same cylinder multiple times to get to the
required amount of water needed. Additionally, when putting the acid into
the cylinder I noticed that the first couple of times I did it that some crystals
got stuck in the neck of the bottle. In future trials I would spray some
deionized water down the neck of the flask and this improved my results.

Conclusions
The molar mass of the acid I was using was found to be 75 grams per mole.
The overall error was found to be less than one percent and my deviation
was 0.17% so I can state with confidence that this lab was completed
successfully.

References
1. "Experiment 4." Chem 1A Lab Manual. Spring 2016 ed. N.p.: Arbor
Crest, n.d. 40-43. Print.
2. Gilbert, Thomas R., Rein V. Kirss, and Natalie Foster. Chemistry: An
Atoms-focused Approach. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.