LECTURE 5: CONCENTRATION- NORMALITY

Concentration
• Equivalent Weights
• Normality
 Equivalent weight (also known as gram equivalent) is
the mass of one equivalent, that is the mass of a given
substance which will combine with or displace a fixed
quantity of another substance

Substances react with each other in stoichiometric, or

chemically equivalent, proportions, and a common
standard has been adopted
The equivalent weight of an element is the mass which
combines with or displaces 1.008 gram of hydrogen or
8.0 grams of oxygen or 35.5 grams of chlorine.

These values correspond to the atomic weight divided by

the usual valence.

Example: Silver (Ag), 107.86 g

Magnesium (Mg), 24.31/2 g
Aluminum (Al), 26.98/3 g
Sulfur (S, in forming a sulfide), 32.06/2 g
For acid-base reactions, the equivalent weight of an acid or
base is the mass which supplies or reacts with one mole one
of hydrogen cations (H+)

For Redox reactions, The equivalent weight is the molecular

weight of each reactant divided by the number of electrons
lost or gained by each molecule

Example: Potassium permanganate (KMnO4) in acid soln,

158.038/5 g;
Potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7), 294.192/6 g
 EW= Equivalent Weight
FW= Formula Weight
n= number of equivalents
(reaction units)

n: Valency of element
Number of hydrogen ions (H+)
Number of electrons gained or lost
Calculate the equivalent weights of the following
substances.
a. NH3
b. H2C2O4 (in a reaction with NaOH)
c. KMnO4 (Mn(vii) is reduced to Mn2+)
Calculate the equivalent weights of
H2SO4 and NH4OH in the two
equations respectively.
 Normality is defined as the number of gram equivalent
present in per litre solution

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The relationship between normality and molarity

 To Calculate Normality;
a. Find the equivalent weight of the solute based on the
chemical reaction that is going to be used
b. Calculate No. of Gram Equivalent of Solute
c. Calculate the volume in litre
.
d. Calculate the Normaility using the given formula
To calculate the volume of a definite solution required to
prepare solution of other Normality, the following
equation is used:
N1= initial Normality
N2= Normality of the new solution
V1= initial volume
V2= volume of the new solution
.
In acid and base titration, the equation below can be used
to find the Normality of the acid and base.
Na =Normality of Acid solution
Va= Volume of Acid solution
Nb=Normality of base solution
Vb= Volume of base solution
Suppose we have 36.5 gram of 1 L HCL solution. What is
the Normality of the HCL solution.
Calculate the equivalent weight and normality for a
solution of 6.0 M H3PO4 given the following reactions?
Find out the volumes of two HCl solutions P (0.5 N) and Q
(0.1 N) to be mixed for preparing 2 L of 0.2 N HCl solution
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