Introduction

In this experiment, potentiometric titration is used to determine the quantity of H3PO4

and HCl or NaH2PO4 in a mixture. By looking at the shape of the graphs, the components of the

solution are also found. In potentiometric titration, an indicator electrode is measured with

respect to a standard electrode. 1 And the titration helps determine the concentration of the

analyte in a solution.2 The pH is determined by the electric potential; during the titration, the

pH is being measured so that the activity of ions in solution could be monitored. The analyte

solution is being titrated using NaOH with a known concentration. And at the equivalence

points, the mol of NaOH equals the mol of analyte, which then allows the calculation of the

quantity of the analyte.

The pH electrode contains two electrodes: a reference electrode and an indicator

electrode. 3 The reference electrode, which is usually made of silver or silver chloride wire, is

usually contained within a saturated KCl solution to provide a stable voltage. 4 Also, at the bulb,

there is a thin glass membrane that has to stay hydrated to measure pH, and the bulb also

contains 0.1M HCl saturated with AgCl. And as the acidity increases, there would be more

hydronium ion present in the solution. This causes an increase in potential and decrease in pH,

and vice versa for a decrease in acidity. By measuring the potential between the solution

relative to the standard electrode, the pH of the solution could be figured out.

This experiment is an acid-base titration. According to the Bronsted-Lowry definition,

acid is the one that donates protons, and base is the proton acceptor. And from the Lewis

definition, acid is the one that accepts electron pairs, while base donates the pair electrons. It is

important to note that acids and bases are always relative to each other. And when weak acids
and bases are put in equilibrium with water, they would produce conjugate bases and

conjugate acids respectively.

Calculations – Part 1: Titration Curve

Titration of H3PO4 and HCl solution with 0.15M NaOH

12

10

6
pH

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Volume NaOH Added (mL)

Graph 1: The titration curve for the first trial titration of H3PO4 and HCl with 0.15M NaOH. Note that the error bars
are too small to be seen.
 Titration of a H3PO4 and HCl solution with 0.15M NaOH
12

10

6
pH

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Volume NaOH Added (mL)

Graph 2: The titration curve for the second trial titration of H3PO4 and HCl with 0.15M NaOH. Note that the error
bars are too small to be seen.

Calculations – Part 2: First Derivative Graph

 The Derivative Graph for the First Trial Titration of a H3PO4 and
HCl solution with 0.15M NaOH
12

10

8
ΔpH/ΔV

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Average Volume Added (mL)

Graph 3: The derivative graph for the first trial titration of a H3PO4 and HCl solution with 0.15M NaOH. The two
peaks occur at (9.265,10) and (14.61, 5.625).

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑎𝑂𝐻 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 1𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 = 9.265𝑚𝐿

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑎𝑂𝐻 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 2𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 = 14.61𝑚𝐿

 The Derivative Graph for the First Trial Titration of a H3PO4 and
HCl solution with 0.15M NaOH
8

5
ΔpH/ΔV

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Average Volume of NaOH Added (mL)

Graph 4: The derivative graph for the second trial titration of a H3PO4 and HCl solution with 0.15M NaOH. The two
peaks occur at (9.25,7.4) and (14.56, 7.6).

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑎𝑂𝐻 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 1𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 = 9.25𝑚𝐿

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑎𝑂𝐻 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 2𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 = 14.56𝑚𝐿

Calculations – Part 3: Calculating Concentrations (Trial 2)

The composition of the solution should be H3PO4 + HCl, according to the shape of the graph.

[@2𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡]

𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝑵𝒂𝑶𝑯 = 𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝑯𝟐 𝑷𝑶#

𝟒 = 𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝑯𝟑 𝑷𝑶𝟒 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟓𝟎 × (𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟒𝟓𝟔 − 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟗𝟐𝟓) = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟕𝟗𝟗𝒎𝒐𝒍

!
0.00129 ! √0.05! + 0.05!
B
𝑠 = 0.000799 × C D +F I = 1.26 × 10"# 𝑚𝑜𝑙
0.150 14.56 − 9.25

[𝑯𝟐 𝑷𝑶"
𝟒 ] = [𝑯𝟑 𝑷𝑶𝟒 ] = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟕𝟗𝟗𝒎𝒐𝒍 ÷ 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟎𝑳 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟕𝟗𝟗𝑴
 !
1.26 × 10"# 0.00004 !
B
𝑠 = 0.0799 × F I +C D = 0.00130𝑀
0.000799 0.01

[@1𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡]

𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝑵𝒂𝑶𝑯 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟓𝟎𝑴 × 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟗𝟐𝟓𝑳 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟏𝟑𝟗 𝒎𝒐𝒍

0.00129 ! 0.05 !
𝑠 = 0.00139 × BC D +C D = 1.41 × 10"# 𝑚𝑜𝑙
0.150 9.25

𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝑯𝑪𝒍 = 𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝑵𝒂𝑶𝑯 − 𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝑯𝟑 𝑷𝑶𝟒 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟏𝟑𝟗𝒎𝒐𝒍 − 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟕𝟗𝟗𝒎𝒐𝒍 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟓𝟗𝟐𝟔 𝒎𝒐𝒍

𝑠 = ^(1.41 × 10"# )! + (1.26 × 10"# )! = 1.89 × 10"# 𝑚𝑜𝑙

[𝑯𝑪𝒍] = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟓𝟗𝟐𝟔 𝒎𝒐𝒍 ÷ 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟎𝑳 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟓𝟗𝟑𝑴

!
1.89 × 10"# 0.04 !
𝑠 = 0.0593 × BF I +C D = 0.00191𝑀
0.0005926 10

𝟎. 𝟎𝟓𝟗𝟎𝑴 + 𝟎. 𝟎𝟓𝟗𝟑𝑴
𝑨𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 [𝑯𝑪𝒍] = = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟓𝟗𝟏𝑴
𝟐
1
𝑠= × ^0.00191! + 0.00255! = 0.00159𝑀
2
𝟎. 𝟎𝟖𝟎𝟒𝑴 + 𝟎. 𝟎𝟕𝟗𝟗𝑴
𝑨𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 [𝑯𝟑 𝑷𝑶𝟒 ] = = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟖𝟎𝟏𝑴
𝟐
1
𝑠= × ^0.00131! + 0.00130! = 0.000923𝑀
2
Results

[Standardization of NaOH]

Weight of KHP Volume NaOH [NaOH]

Titration 1 0.9121g ± 0.0001g 29.93mL ± 0.05mL 0.149M ± 0.0002M

Titration 2 0.9112g ± 0.0001g 29.70mL ± 0.05mL 0.150M ± 0.0002M

Titration 3 0.9172g ± 0.0001g 29.59mL ± 0.05mL 0.152M ± 0.0003M

Average [NaOH] = 0.150M Std. Dev. Of mean [NaOH] = 0.00129M

[pH VS Volume of NaOH]

1st Endpoint 2nd Endpoint

Vol NaOH pH Vol NaOH pH

Titration 1 9.265mL ± 0.05mL 4.44 ± 0.01 14.61mL ± 0.05mL 8.51 ± 0.01

Titration 2 9.25mL ± 0.05mL 4.43 ± 0.01 14.56mL ± 0.05mL 9.06 ± 0.01

[H3PO4] [HCl]

Titration 1 0.0804M ± 0.0013M 0.0590M ± 0.0025M

Titration 2 0.0799M ± 0.0013M 0.0593M ± 0.0019M

Average 0.0801M ± 0.0009M 0.0591M ± 0.0016M

Reference

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titration (accessed Nov 25, 2021).

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Nov 25, 2021).

3. Working principle of pH meter. https://www.pharmaguideline.com/2015/08/principle-and-

working-of-pH-probes.html (accessed Nov 25, 2021).

4. Ph meter definition, principle, parts, types, application, procedure.

https://microbiologynote.com/ph-meter-definition-
principle/#pH_Meter_Working_Principle (accessed Nov 25, 2021).