University of Bahrain

College of Science
Department of Chemistry

Experiment 3
Conductometric Titration

Name : Mua'az Ahmed Taha

Academic Number : 20073459
Course Number : CHEMY 310
Submission Date : 2010-4-1

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 Index

Page
o Objective………………………………….3

o Abstract…………………………………..3

o Theory…………………………………….3

o Requirements……………………………3

o Results……………………….…………..5

o Conclusions and Recommendations.....6

o References……………………………….6

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Objective:
- To determine the concentration of unknown acid and study the end-point of an
Acid-Base reaction by conductometric titration.

Abstract:

Conductivity is an important property for specifying, at the same time, identifying a compound. In
this experiment we used the conductance of a compound to describe the reaction profile and to
locate the end point , at which number of moles of the titrant "reagent"equal number of moles of
the analyte.We titrated a strong acid ( 20 ml ) with a strong base ( 0.5 M) , during the titration we
measured the conductance of the solution using a conductometer , the we plotted the values of
conductivity as a function of added volume of the strong base , to find the end-point " sudden
change in the slope" to be at 20 ml of the strong base , after that we found the concentration of the
strong acid .Similar procedure is repeated , but with a weak acid and with an unknown acid,
furthermore the values obtained are , 11.52 ml of strong base added for the weak acid and the
concentration calculated was 0.288 M with 42.2 % difference from the actual value, 11.4 ml of strong
base for the unknown acid. As a final result, we found that the unknown acid has a similar
behavior as the weak acid, so it is a weak acid.

Theory:

Conductance is a measure of the ability of a solution to conduct electricity. The conductance of a

solution is the sum of the conductances of all ions in the solution. The conductance of a particular
solution depends on the concentration of the ion, the charge on the ion and the size of the ion .
Conductivity is proportional to concentration of ions In solution, but not all ions conduct equally.
Ion that move through solution easily conduct better. For example , small fast moving ions like
hydrogen ion ( H+) , has a greater conductivity to solutions that contain bulky ions such bromine
( Br - ) , or heavily hydrated ions like sulfate ion (SO42-).

A reaction involving the replacement of one ion on solution by another may be followed by
measuring the conductivity of the solution, providing the two ionic conductivities are sufficiently
different.

Requirements:
 standard sodium hydroxide solution (0.5 M).
 Hcl and CH3COOH.
 Unknown solutions.
 Digital Conductometer.
 Magnetic Stirrer.
 Micro-Burette ( 10 ml).
 Normal Burette ( 100 ml ).
 Volumetric Flask ( 100 ml).
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  Wash Bottle.
 Beaker ( 400 ml ).

Results :
1- Strong Base ( NaOH ) , Strong Acid (HCl).

V NaOH Vs. Cond HCl

10

7
HCl Conductance mS

5 V NaOH Vs. Cond HCl

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Volume NaOH

Figure.1

End Point is at 20 ml of NaOH Added .

M acid x V acid = M NaOH x V NaOH

M acid = ( 0.5 x 20 ) / 20 ml = 0.5 M

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2-Strong Base ( NaOH ) , Weak Acid ( CH3COOH) :

V NaOH vs. Cond CH3COOH

2500

2000
CH3COOH Cond uS

1500

V NaOH vs. Cond CH3COOH

1000

500

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
NaOH Volume

Figure.2

End Point at 11.52 ml of NaOH Added .

M acid x V acid = M NaOH x V NaOH

M acid = ( 0.5 x 11.52 ) / 20 ml = 0.288 M

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3- Strong Base ( NaOH ) , Unknown Acid # 7 :

NaOH Volume vs. unknown Cond us

2500

2000
Unknown Cond uS

1500

NaOH Volume vs. unknown Cond us

1000

500

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
NaOH Volume

Figure.3
End Point is at 11.4 ml of NaOH add .

Concentration of Unknown acid :

Macid x Vacid = MNaOH x VNaOH

M unknown acid = ( 0.5 x 11.4 ) / 20 ml = 0.285 M

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Summary:
Strong NaOH-Strong Strong NaOH – Strong NaOH-
HCl Weak CH3COOH Unknown Acid #7
Actual Value 0.5 M 0.5 M ?
Estimated Value 0.5 M 0.288 M 0.285 M
% Relative Error 0% 42.4 % ?

Conclusion and Recommendation:

To conclude, through this experiment we learned, a third type of titration is Conductometric

titration added to the first , Gravimetric titration and the second Precipitation titration . Basically,
the conductometric titration is based upon measuring the conductivity of a solution with unknown
concentration, that is titrated with a known concentration titrant, and the end point of the reaction
is indicated when, a sudden change in the conductivity of the solution occur . throughout this
experiment I recommend , to recalibrate the digital conductometers we used , because during the
experiment we faced lots of difficulties in reading the conductivities and to use more concentrated
reagent than the solution that is to be analyzed , to reduce the dilution effects on the conductivity.

References:
1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/titration
2- SKOOG/WEST/HOLLER, Fundamentals Of Analytical Chemistry, Saunders HBJ ,
6th Edition, 1992.