Acid-Base Titration

An acidbase titration is the determination of the concentration of an acid or base by exactly neutralizing the acid or base with an acid or base of known
concentration. This allows for quantitative analysis of the concentration of an unknown acid or basesolution. It makes use of the neutralization reaction that
occurs between acids and bases.

Acidbase titrations can also be used to find percent purity of chemicals.

Alkalimetry and acidimetry are a kind of volumetric analysis in which the fundamental reaction is a neutralization reaction. Alkalimetry is the specialized
analytic use of acid-base titration to determine the concentration of a basic (synonymous to alkaline) substance. Acidimetry, sometimes spelled acidometry,
is the same concept of specialized analytic acid-base titration, but for an acidic substance. [ Alkalimetry and acidimetry are a kind of volumetric analysis in
which the fundamental reaction is a neutralization reaction. Alkalimetry is the specialized analytic use of acid-base titration to determine the concentration
of a basic (synonymous to alkaline) substance. Acidimetry, sometimes spelled acidometry, is the same concept of specialized analytic acid-base titration,
but for an acidic substance.[
The pH of a weak acid solution being titrated with a strong base solution can be found at different points along the way. These points fall into one of four
categories:[2]

1. initial pH

2. pH before the equivalence point

3. pH at the equivalence point

4. pH after the equivalence point

The equations and methods below assume that the concentration of the acid and base are at least 1000 times greater than the of the acid. If not, a more
rigorous calculation using an RICE chartis required. In face the equations below are a simplification of the RICE chart.
1. The initial pH is approximated for a weak acid solution in water using the equation
where Ka is the dissociation constant and F is the concentration of the acid.
2. The pH before the equivalence point depends on the amount of weak acid remaining and the amount of conjugate base formed. The pH can be
calculated by the following formula (which is a variation of the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation):
where:

pKa is the negative log of the acid dissociation constant of the weak acid.

nOH- added is the number of moles of added strong base in the solution.

nHA initial is the number of moles the weak acid initially present.
 When the numerator of the log term equals the denominator (), then the ratio goes to 1 and the log term goes to zero. Thus the pH will equal the
pKa which occurs half-way to the equivalence point.
At the equivalence point, the weak acid is consumed and converted to its conjugate base. The pH will be greater than 7 and can be calculated from an
equation derived from the following relationships:

1. pH + pOH = 14

2. KaKb = 1014

3. at equivalence CaVa = CbVb

The previous 3 relationships are used to generate the equivalence point pH formula below:

Ca = concentration of acid and Cb = concentration of base

Kw = dissociation constant for water and Ka = for the acid

Note that when an acid neutralizes a base, the pH may or may not be neutral (pH = 7). The pH depends on the strengths of the acid and base.
4. After the equivalence point, the solution will contain two bases: the conjugate base of the acid and the strong base of the titrant. However, the
base of the titrant is stronger than the conjugate base of the acid. Therefore, the pH in this region is controlled by the strong base. As such the pH can
be found using the following:
Single formula. More accurately, a single formula[3] that describes the titration of a weak acid with a strong base from start to finish is given below:

= fraction of completion of the titration ( < 1 is before the equivalence point, = 1 is the equivalence point, and > 1 is after the
equivalence point)

Ca, Cb = the concentrations of the acid and base respectively

Va, Vb = the volumes of the acid and base respectively

A- = the fraction of the weak acid that is ionized

Ka = the dissociation constant for the acid

[H+], [OH] = concentrations of the H+ and OH ions respectively

This formula is somewhat cumbersome, but does describe the titration curve as a single equation.