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 (mL) 0.1 15.2

Final volume of NaOH (mL) 15.2 30.45

Volume of NaOH used (mL) 15.1 15.25

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 NaOH 1.043

(M)

Initial volume of NaOH 0 2.5 22.2

(mL)

Final Volume of NaOH 20.5 22.2 38.8

(mL)

Volume of NaOH used 20.5 19.7 16.6

(mL)

Moles of NaOH (mol) 0.0214 0.0205 0.0173

Moles of acid (mol) 0.0214 0.0205 0.0173

Sample Calculations:
Solution A:
(1.043M NaOH)(20.5mL NaOH) = 0.0214mol NaOH = 0.0214mol acid

C. Equilibrium Constant Calculations

Solution A Solution B Solution C

Initial moles EtAc (mol) 0.0508 0.0406 0.0305

Initial moles H2O (mol) 0.259 0.315 0.370

Moles of acid (mol) 0.0214 0.0205 0.0173

Moles of HCl (mol) 0.0158 0.0158 0.0158

Moles of HAc (equil.) 0.0056 0.0047 0.0015

(mol)

Moles of EtOH (equil.) 0.0056 0.0047 0.0015

(mol)

Moles of EtAc (equil.) 0.0452 0.0359 0.0290

(mol)

Moles of H2O (equil.) 0.253 0.310 0.369

(mol)

KC 0.0027 0.0020 0.00021

 Average KC 0.0016

Standard deviation 0.0013

Sample Calculations:
Solution B:
Initial moles EtAc:
4.00mL x 0.893g/mL = 3.57g
3.57g x 1mol/88.0g = 0.0406mol EtAc

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 H 2O) = 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.