COMMON ION EFFECT AND BUFFERS

N. BUTAYA1 AND J. ZIPAGAN2

Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Home Economics
1

Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Home Economics

2

University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines

Date Submitted: 27 February 2019
Date Performed: 20 February 2019

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

1. Account for the differences in color of Solutions 1, 2, 3, and 4, after adding the
appropriate virtual indicators. Explain in terms of the pKa’s of phenolphthalein and
methyl orange.
The first batch of solutions received two different types of indicators namely, methyl
orange for the acidic solutions and phenolphthalein for the basic solution. In the solutions with
methyl orange, solution 1(acetic acid) turned to a light red colored solution, while solution 2
(acetic acid with acetate) turned yellow. These results follow through with the pkA of methyl
orange (3.4). Methyl orange turns the solution to red at 3.1<pH<4.4 and turns it yellow at pH
>44. For the solutions with phenolphthalein with pkA 9.4 and entails a color range of light
pink to red at a pH of 8.3 and higher, the solution 3 (ammonia) turned dark pink while
solution 4 (ammonia and ammonium) light pink.

2. Describe and Rationalize the observed effect of additional acid or base on Solutions 1,
2, 3, and 4.
Buffer solutions 2 and 4 had weak acid/base and their conjugate base/acid, were
counterparts of solutions 1 and 3. Buffer solutions are there to minimize the effect of
additional acid/base on the pH of the solution, and solutions 2 and 4 should have lesser ΔpH as
that compared to the the solutions with no buffer. This is consistent with the results of the
experiment, where the pH of the solutions without buffers, after adding HCl/NaOH, were
significantly farther from the pH of their initial solutions.