Lab #4

Date: 17/02/2021
Title: Concentration of Hydrogen peroxide in a stock solution
Aim: To determine the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in a stock
solution.
Apparatus: beakers, measuring cylinder, burette, pipette, pipette filler,
graduated flask, conical flask, retort stand, funnel, white tile.
Materials: distilled water, 0.02moldm-3 KMnO4 (aq), 0.3 moldm-3 stock
H2O2 (aq) ,1 moldm-3 H2SO4 (aq)
Procedure:
1. 32cm3 of H2O2(aq) was measured and placed in a 250cm3 graduated
flask using a burette. The contents of the flask was filled up to the
mark with distilled water and thoroughly mixed.
2. 50cm3 KMnO4(aq) was placed into a second burette.
3. 25cm3 of dilute H2O2(aq) was pipetted into a second conical flask
where 10cm3 of dilute H2SO4(aq) was added.
4. The contents of the conical flask was titrated by adding KMnO4(aq) .
5. The experiment was repeated 3 times and all results obtained
were recorded.
Diagram:
Diagram showing the setup of apparatus used for this experiment
involving a titration.

Table of Results:
Table showing the results obtained from the dilution of H2O2(aq)
Final burette reading / cm3 50
Initial burette reading / cm3 18
Volume of H2O2 (aq) / cm3 32
Table showing the titration results of diluted H2O2 with KMnO4
ACCURATE READING:
ROUGH 1 2 3
Final Burette Reading / cm3 25.9 26.2 26.3 26.1
Initial Burette Reading / cm3 0.5 0 0 0
Volume of KMnO4 (aq) / cm3 25.4 26.2 26.3 26.1

Discussion/Theory-
A titration is a quantitative chemical analysis technique which is used to
determine the concentration of an unknown reagent. This process
involves gradually adding one substance of a known concentration to a
known volume of unknown concentration of the reagent, until a point of
neutralization is reached. This point of neutralization is usually
determined by a colour change. The titre value is obtained by: reading
the start volume from the burette before the titration is started and then
at the end point, reading the final volume, therefore the value of the acid
used is the final volume minus the starting/initial volume. The number
of moles of the known concentration reagent is calculated and the mole
ratio of the known and unknown concentrated substance is taken from
the balanced equation. Once the mole ratio is known, the number of
moles of the unknown concentrated substance can be found. The molar
concentration can now be found by dividing the Number of moles of the
substance by the volume of the substance used. The concentration is
now known for the reagent, and the titration has been completed.
A redox titration is one which involves the determination of the
concentration of a substance by causing a redox reaction between the
titrant and the analyte. This means that an oxidation-reduction reaction
occurs between the titrant and the analyte and the unknown
concentration can be determined. The stop point of the redox reactions is
indicted by a colour change. The redox reaction can be seen in this
experiment between KMnO4 and H2O2, however H2SO4(aq) was also
added.
The equation for this reaction is shown below:

2MnO4 (aq) + 8H+ + 5e-  4H2O + Mn2+(aq) *2 (reduction)

O- (aq) - 2e-  6O2(g) *5 (oxidation)

Final equation:
2KMnO4(aq) + 5H2O2(aq) +3H2SO4(aq)  2 MnSO4(aq) + 5O2(g) + 8H2O(l) +
K2SO4(aq)

Potassium permanganate is a powerful oxidizing agent which is purple

in colour. When the KMnO4 was being added to the H2O2 at first, it
was being turned colourless as it was being reduced to Mn2+ ions,
however as the reaction came closer a pale pink colour could be seen.
This indicated that there was enough KMno4 being reduced and that
enough was being reacted, hence the reaction has come to a stop.
Therefore, during this experiment, the KMnO4 was reduced while the
H2O2 was oxidized, hence a redox reaction occurred.

Calculations:
Precautions:
1. All apparatus was washed properly before use to ensure that no
cross contamination occurred.
2. All measurements were measured at eye level to ensure accuracy.
3. Left hand was used to control the switch on the burette, while the
right hand was used to swirl the contents in the conical flask during
the titration. This allowed for greater control of the addition of the
KMnO4.

Sources of error:
1. KMnO4 contained impurities which could have interfered with
the final results.
2. A transcriptional error occurred as the results were incorrectly
recorded in the table of results, however this was quickly
corrected.

Assumptions:
1. Distilled water contained no impurities.

Reflection:
During this experiment I learnt how to properly carry out a titration by
using the apparatus correctly. This lab aided me in further understanding
why titrations are executed and how the concentrations and number of
moles of substances can be calculated.
Titrations are used in many industries including the food industry. This
technique is used to determine the amount of a substance in a food
sample. For example, a titration can be done to determine how much salt
or vitamin E is in a particular sample of food. This allows companies
and industries to progress in the creation of new food products or
healthier products.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, the concentration of Hydrogen Peroxide in a stock
solution was found to be 0.39moldm-3.