1 Development of practical skills

OCR Chemistry A Method sheet

How to carry out a precise, reliable, and

accurate titration

Specification references
 1.1.3 a) b)
 1.1.4 a) b) c) e)

Learning outcomes
After completing the practical you should be able to:
 process, analyse and interpret quantitative experimental results
 use appropriate mathematical skills for analysis of quantitative data
 evaluate and draw conclusions
 understand limitations in experimental procedures
 refine experimental design by suggesting improvements to the procedures
and apparatus.

Background
You will practice titration of an acid (potassium hydrogen phthalate) with a base
(sodium hydroxide). An indicator called phenolphthalein is used to show when the
acid and base are present in equimolar amounts (the equivalence point).
You will obtain a titration volume for your experiment. You will then compare your
reading to those of the other students in your class. By comparing the class set of
results, you will be able to eliminate anomalous readings and produce a more
accurate mean value for the titration volume.
You will calculate the concentration of the sodium hydroxide solution and compare
your value and the mean value for the class, with the actual values.

Safety
 0.1  mol dm–3 NaOH is sufficiently dilute to be classified as an IRRITANT
 chemical splash-proof eye protection must be worn

Equipment and materials

 standard solution of 0.0735 mol mol dm–3  25 cm3 pipette
potassium hydrogen phthalate  pipette filler
 sodium hydroxide solution of approximately  phenolphthalein indicator
0.100 mol  dm–3 concentration
 white tile
 250  cm3 conical flask
 burette stand
 50 cm3 burette
 eye protection

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 1 Development of practical skills
OCR Chemistry A Method sheet

Method
1 Fill a burette with 0.0735 mol dm–3 potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP) solution.
(Background: potassium hydrogen phthalate is a weak acid. It is a useful acid
because precise concentrations of this acid can easily be made up – being an inert
solid, it can be weighed out accurately.)
2 Pipette 25.00 cm3 of sodium hydroxide solution into a 250 cm3 conical flask.
 

3 Add 3–4 drops of phenolphthalein indicator. The end-point is reached as soon as

the solution turns colourless or very pale pink.
4 Titrate and record your first titre in Table 1.

Figure 1 Titration apparatus

Results
Construct a table, such as Table 1, to record your titration results.
Table 1 Results for first titration

First titration
Final volume / cm3
Initial volume / cm3 0.00
Titre / cm3

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 1 Development of practical skills
OCR Chemistry A Method sheet

Questions
1 Explain why this first titre is unreliable. (2 marks)
2 Explain why this titre is unlikely to be accurate. (2 marks)
You can do just one more titration. Enter your second titre in Table 2.
Table 2 Results of second titration

Second titration
Final volume / cm3
Initial volume / cm3 0.00
Titre / cm3

3 Explain why it is highly probable that your second titre is more accurate than
your first. (2 marks)
4 Why is it unlikely that the values of your two titres are precise? (1 mark)
5 Explain why your second titre, which may be quite accurate, is still unreliable.
(2 marks)
Collate everybody's second titres in your class and enter them in Table 3.
Table 3 Class’s results for second titration
Student's initials
Second titre / cm3
6 Are there any anomalous titres? Explain your answer(2 marks)
7 If you exclude any anomalous results, explain whether or not the remaining
results are reliable. (2 marks)
8 Suggest how a reliable titre can be determined from the class’s results. (1
mark)
9 Determine its value. (1 mark)
Use KHP to represent potassium hydrogen phthalate. Sodium hydroxide reacts
with 0.0735 mol dm–3 KHP in a 1:1 ratio, according to the equation:
NaOH  KHP → KNaP  H2O
10 Calculate how many moles of potassium hydrogen phthalate reacted in your
second titration. (1 mark)
11 Deduce the number of moles of NaOH that reacted. (1 mark)
12 Calculate the concentration of the NaOH solution to three significant figures.
(1 mark)
Tabulate the class’s values for the concentration of NaOH(aq) in Table 4. Include
any anomalous values.
Table 4 Class’s values for the concentration of NaOH(aq)
Student's initials
Concentration of
NaOH(aq) / mol dm–3

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 1 Development of practical skills
OCR Chemistry A Method sheet

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 1 Development of practical skills
OCR Chemistry A Method sheet

13 Calculate the mean value. State whether the anomalous values should be
included in the mean. (1 mark)
14 Ask your teacher for the ‘true’ value for the concentration of sodium hydroxide
solution. In a large data set it is more likely that the mean value is closer to the ‘true’
(accurate) value than any one of the individual values. Was this true for the class’s
results? That is, was the mean value more accurate than most students’ individual
concentrations? If so, discuss why or why it was not.
15 Suggest how you, personally, could have achieved a more accurate result.
(4 marks)

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