SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC DETERMINATION OF THE ACID

DISSOCIATION CONSTANT OF METHYL RED

A. ARNOCO1, J. REYES2
1
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
2
DEPARTMENT OF MINING, METTALURGICAL, AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF
ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILIMAN, QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES
DATE PERFORMED: November 16, 2016
INSTRUCTOR: INGUITO, J.N.

3. Explain the importance of using

matched cells in the experiment.
1. Discuss the application of Beer’s law on
the analysis of a multi-component system.

The absorbance of a species in a mixture Matched cells are composed of a

of diverse species is usually not affected by
the other species present in the mixture. With
this, the Beer’s law can be used to analyze the
solution. Beer’s law is given by the equation
below.
A=ε bc (1)
In this equation, ε is the molar
absorptivity of the species, b is the path length
of the light and c is the concentration of
solution. To get the total absorbance of the
solution, absorbances of different individual
species are added.
n
Atotal =∑ ε n b c n (2)
i=1
With this property of absorbance, the
individual species’ concentration and other
properties associated with absorbance can be
examined[1].
reference/blank cell and the sample cell. In
the reference cell, all absorbing species
present in the sample that are not to
measured are contained while the sample cell
contains the sample.
It is important to use matched cells in
this experiment so that the absorbance of the
spectator species are accounted for in the
measurement of the absorption of the species
of interest. It is as if the absorbances of the
spectator species are immediately subtracted
to the absorbance of the sample to get the
absorbance of the species of interest [2].
4. Why is it right for the HMR solution to
have a pH of approximately 2, and for the
MR- solution to have a pH of
approximately 8?

2. How do we determine the molar It is only appropriate that HMR has a

absorptivity of each component in a multi-
component system?
From equation (1), molar absorptivity
of each component can be determined by
dividing the absorbance of the species with
the corresponding path length and its
concentration in the solution. Molar
L [1]
absorptivity has units of .
mol ∙ cm
lower pH since HMR is the protonated form of
methyl red and it is dominant in the solwhich
means that it is acidic in nature while MR - is
the deprotonated form of methyl red which
means that it is basic in nature [3].
5. Correlate the wavelengths of maximum
absorption of HMR and MR- to their colors.
 The wavelengths of the maximum
absorption of the species are actually related
to the colors absorbed by the species. In the
case of HMR, its color is pink/magenta which
means that it absorbs yellow-green light. On
the other hand, for MR -, its color is yellow
which means that it absorbs blue-violet light.
From the experiment, the wavelength of
maximum absorption for HMR is relatively
higher than the wavelength of maximum
absorption of MR-. This agrees to theory
since based in the visible light spectrum, it is
known that the wavelength of yellow-green is
larger than that of blue-violet [4].
6. Why do we measure the pH of the
solutions 7 to 10?
Solutions 7 to 10 pH’s were measured
to determine the relative concentrations of
HMR and MR- in the solutions. From
spectrophotometry, the concentration of MR -
and HMR can be determined. From equation
[4] derived from equation [3], the K a of
methyl red can be calculated since all the
other variable have already been measured
through the pH meter and the
spectrophotometer [1].
K = [H+] [MR-] (3)
[HMR]
pKa = pH – log ¿ (4)
7. Account for the deviation or closeness of
the experimental acid dissociation
constant of methyl red to its literature
value. What factors might cause the
discrepancy between the two values?
From the experiment, the pK a of
methyl red is . Compared to the literature
value of 5.00, it has a % deviation of % [3].
Since the solutions were noticed to be more
diluted than expected, errors may have
occurred from there, affecting the measured
pH and absorbances of the species.
8. Discuss possible sources of errors and
their effect on the calculated parameters.
Possible sources of error may be from
the solution preparation. It was noticed that
the solutions used were more diluted than
expected therefore, measuring absorbances
that are far lower than the expected values.
Also, instrumental errors may have occurred.
Since most instruments in the laboratory are
of old age, then inaccuracies may have been
brought about. Other errors may have
occurred from the failure to calibrate the
instruments properly and fingerprints and
other unnecessary particles that interfered
with the light transmitted [4].
REFERENCES:
[1] Mathcad. Concentrations in Multi-
component systems.
http://www.pmif.ukim.edu.mk/PMF/Chemis
try/wmc-4c11.html (accessed Nov. 22, 2016).
[2] Clark College. Spectrophotometry.
http://web.clark.edu/nfattaleh/classes/135/
Sp06/SpecSp06.pdf (accessed Nov. 22, 2016).
[3] Colby College. pKa of Methyl Red.
http://www.colby.edu/chemistry/PChem/la
b/pKaMethylRed.pdf (accessed Nov. 22,
2016).
[4] Skoog, Douglas A., Donald M. West and F.
James Holler. "Fundamentals of Analytical
Chemistry 8th ed." Harcourt Brace College
Publishers. 1995.