Lab #10

Team Project: The Determination of the Iron in an Iron Tablet Using Atomic
Absorption Spectroscopy and by an Oxidation-Reduction Titration with
Potassium Permanganate..
 
Franica Brown, David Morales, Tia Silivelio, Christian Wheeler
March 13th, 2020
 Introduction
Today’s lab was a collaborative effort to calculate the actual iron content of iron tablets using
two different methods: atomic absorption spectroscopy and an oxidation-reduction titration.
The atomic absorption spectroscopy is the analysis of the excitation, and subsequent emission, of
ground-state electrons of atoms to produce visible light that is quantified to determine the percent
abundance of a certain element in a solution. The atoms are irradiated by light with a wavelength
corresponding to its emission spectra, causing the atoms to absorb energy and propel its electrons
to an excited state, creating an absorption spectrum in the process. The amount of light absorbed
from the light path is directly proportional to the number of atoms of the element that are in the
light path, therefore the percentage of that element can be calculated.
Titration by oxidation-reduction using potassium permanganate involves the analysis of the
amount the of a solute added to a solution to cause either an oxidation or reduction of the
solution, and based on the balanced chemical equation, use stoichiometry to determine the molar
mass, therefore percent concentration, of the produced element.
Data Summary