CENTRE OF FOUNDATION STUDIES FOR AGRICULTURAL

SCIENCE UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

CHEMISTRY LAB REPORT CHEMISTRY

LECTURE’S GROUP
KULIAH 4

TITLE OF EXPERIMENT
CALIBRATION OF VOLUMETRIC GLASSWARE

LECTURE’S NAME
Dr Nur Hana binti Faujan

GROUP NUMBER
5

FULL NAME MATRIC TASK

NUMBER
MUHAMMAD IZZUDDIN BIN NORISAM AS12872 • QUESTION
• CONCLUSION

NUR DANIA MAISARAH BINTI MOHD AS12860 • CALCULATION

HUSAINI

VINISHA A/P MANIMARAN AS12895 • EXPERIMENTAL

PROCEDURE
• EXPERIMENTAL ERROR
ALYA IRDINA BINTI ZAILY AS12896 • DISCUSSION

NUR SUFIAH BINTI SAIFULAZZA AS12899 • OBJECTIVE

• RESULTS
OBJECTIVE
(a) To calculate the percentage error of measurements using various types of basic
laboratory glassware.
(b) To calculate the accuracy of measurements using various types of basic
laboratory glassware.
(c) To calculate the precision of measurements using various types of basic
laboratory glassware.

INTRODUCTION
Glass apparatus used to measure the volume of liquid or gas is called volumetric
glassware. For quantitative analysis of scientific experiments, the apparatus that you choose
will depend on the volume of the liquid and how precise you need to be. Ability to precisely
measure volume of the solution is crucial for the accuracy of chemical analysis. The volume
of liquids needs to be measured to exact amounts. For some experiments, being off by a few
milliliters could alter the result. Scientist needs the right tool for measuring the volume of
liquid. This experiment will focus on the volumetric glassware that you can use to accurately
measure liquid volume. The apparatus used are beaker, pipette, and burette. It will also
emphasize the importance of significant figures in expressing the precision of your volume
measurements. Also, you are limited by the accuracy of your measuring instruments for each
measurement. It is possible to calculate the limits of accuracy of different measuring
instruments. Some errors which are not quantifiable also occur in experiments. In this case,
you cannot calculate their exact effect. For instance, you may not be able to calculate heat
losses in a thermochemical experiment.

APPARATUS

100 mL beaker, 25 mL graduated pipette and filler, 50 mL burette, thermometer, analytical

balance, dropper and Kim wipes.

CHEMICALS
Distilled Water
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE :

BEAKER CALIBRATION

1. Weigh a clean and dry 100 mL beaker using an electronic balance.

2. Record the reading obtained Table 2.
3. Remove the beaker from the balance and fill the beaker with distilled water to the
50 mL mark.
4. Reweigh the mass of the beaker and the water and record the reading in the
table.
5. Using a thermometer, measure and record the temperature of the water in the
table.
6. Use the value of density and the mass of water obtained to calculate the volume
of the water contained in the beaker.
7. Dry the beaker with a paper towel and repeat the entire process for 3 times to the
get the average reading of the data.
8. The value of volume obtained as the result determines how much liquid is
contained when the beaker is filled to a given mark.

PIPETTE CALIBRATION

1. Using a thermometer measure and record the temperature of the water.

2. Using an electronic balance, weigh the weight of the conical flask and stopper
and record it in Table 3.
3. Fill the pipette with distilled water and adjust the pipette volume to the calibration
mark.
4. Drain the water from the pipette into the conical flask.
5. Place the conical flask and stopper containing the aliquot (water) on the balance
pan.
6. Weigh and record the weight of the conical flask and stopper in Table 3.
7. Remove the conical flask from the balance and record the value in the table.
8. Use the value of density and the mass of water obtained to calculate the volume
of the water contained in the pipette and determine the accuracy of this
glassware.
9. Repeat the procedure for 3 times to get the average and accurate data.
10. The value of volume obtained as the result determines how much liquid is
contained when the pipette is filled to a given mark.

BURETTE CALIBRATION

1. Clean and rinse burette, beaker, funnel and other apparatus needed for this
experiment several times with distilled water and make sure to dry it with a clean
towel.
2. Pour some water into the beaker and put a thermometer into the beaker for at
least 10 mins before taking the temperature. Record the temperature in table 4
after 10 mins.
3. Fill the burette with distilled water and carefully draw the liquid down to exactly
0.0 mL. Be sure that there are no air bubbles on the inner wall and at the tip of
the burette, and no water drop hanging at its tip.
4. Weigh a clean and dry 100 mL beaker and record its weight in Table 4.
5. Put the beaker underneath the burette’s tip and drain the water in the burette
from 0.0 mL till the mark at 50.0 mL.
6. Weigh the beaker filled with water using an electronic balance and record it in
table 4.
7. Use the value of density and the mass of water obtained to calculate the volume
of the water contained in the pipette and determine the accuracy of this
glassware.
8. Repeat the procedure from step for 3 times to get the average and accurate data.
9. The value of volume obtained as the result determines how much liquid is
contained when the burette is filled to a given mark.

Table 1 : Density of water at different temperatures

Temperature ( oc) Density (g/mL) Temperatur (oc) Density (g/mL)

19 0.9984 27 0.9955
20 0.9982 28 0.9952
21 0.9980 29 0.9949
22 0.9966 30 0.9944
23 0.9964 31 0.9941
24 0.9962 32 0.9940
25 0.9959 33 0.9938
26 0.9957 34 0.9935

RESULTS

Table 2: Beaker

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

weight of empty beaker (g) 48.0 48.1 48.2

weight of beaker + water (g) 92.5 93.0 93.5

weight of water (g) 44.5 44.9 45.3

 temperature of water CC) 30.0 30.0 30.0

density of water (g/mL) 0.9944 0.9944 0.9944

volume of water (mL) 44.75 45.15 45.55

average volume of water (mL) 45.15

Table 3: Pipett

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

weight of empty conical flask 46.4763 56.4489 57.5889

with stopper

weight of conical flask with to 56. 4489 66.4156 67.5557

stopper + water

weight of water (g) 9.9726 9.9667 9.9668

density of water (g/mL) 0.9966 0.9966 0.9966

temperature of water CC) 22.0 22.0 22.0

volume of water (mL) 10.01 10.00 10.00

average volume of water 10.00

(mL)

Table 4: Burette

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

weight of empty beaker (g) 54.25 54.25 54.25

weight of beaker + water (g) 104.23 104.13 103.99

weight of water (g) 49.98 49.88 49.74

temperature of water (o c) 22.0 22.0 22.0

density of water (g/mL) 0.9966 0.9966 0.9966

volume of water (mL) 50.15 50.05 49.91

average volume of water (mL) 50.04

CALCULATIONS
1. Calculate the volume of water in the beaker, pipette and burette.

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

44.5g / (0.9944g/mL) = 44.9g / (0.9944g/mL) = 45.3g / (0.9944g/mL) =

Beaker (mL) 44.8mL 45.2mL 45.6mL

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

9.9726g / (0.9966g/mL) 9.9667g / (0.9966g/mL) 9.9668g / (0.9966g/mL)

Pipette (mL) = 10.01mL = 10.00mL = 10.00mL

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

49.98g / (0.9966g/mL) 49.88g / (0.9966g/mL) 49.74g / (0.9966g/mL)

Burette (mL) = 50.15mL = 50.05mL = 49.91mL

2. Calculate the average volume of water in the glassware.

(44.8 + 45.2 + 45.6)mL / 3 =

Beaker (mL) 45.2mL

(10.01 + 10.00 + 10.00)mL / 3 =

Pipette (mL) 10.00mL

(50.15 + 50.05 + 49.91)mL / 3 =

Burette (mL) 50.04mL

3. Calculate the percent error to determine the accuracy of the volumetric

apparatus.

Beaker [ (45.2mL – 50.00mL) / 50.00 ] x 100% = -9.6%

[ (10.00mL – 10.00mL) / 10.00 ] x 100% = 0%

Pipette

[ (50.04mL – 50.00mL) / 50.00 ] x 100% = 0.08%

Burette
4. Calculate the standard deviation of each glassware to determine the precision of
the measurements

Using formula

Beaker
[(44.75−45.15)2 + (45.15−45.15)2 + (45.55−45.15)2 ] 𝑚𝐿
√ = 0.40
3−1

Pipette
[(10.01−10.00)2 + (10.00−10.00)2 + (10.00−10.00)2 ] 𝑚𝐿
√ =0.0071
3−1

Burette
[(50.15−50.04)2 + (50.05−50.04)2 + (49.91−50.04)2 ] 𝑚𝐿
√ = 0.12
3−1

DICUSSION
The purpose of the experiment of calibration of volumetric glassware is to calibrate
certain measurement by using volumetric glassware. The calibration was done by measuring
the weight of water contained in or delivered by the glassware. The density of water at a
particular temperature which is measured is used to convert weight into volume. Pipette and
burette are calibrated to deliver specific volumes whereas beaker is calibrated on a contain
basis.

In this experiment, we were exposed to the importance of proper use of volumetric

glassware, measuring cylinder, analytical balance and statistics to decrease the
experimental error. We calibrated a volumetric pipette that was where experimentally
determined what volume a pipette really delivers. We also calibrated a beaker and a burette.

A table was constructed according to the result. In this experiment, accuracy and precision
is important. The brief theory of calibration of glassware is accuracy and precision. Accuracy
is the degree to which the result of a measurement, calculation, or specification conforms to
the correct value or a standard. Precision is a measure of how close a series of
measurements are to one another.

For the beaker experiment, the result increases from Trial 1 to Trial 3. Then for the pipette
experiment, the result increases from Trial 1 to Trial 2 but decrease from Trial 2 to Trial 3.
After that, for the burette experiment, the result decrease from Trial 1 to Trial 3

When the results are compared to the theory, we can conclude that our result for the
experiment is not accurate but precise. It is not accurate because of the different pressure
from surrounding but the results are precise because all the measurement recorded shows
the same results. From this experiment, there are possible error occur. Firstly, error occurs
because of the difference of the water temperature used during the beaker calibration
experiment. Next, the observer’s eyes were not parallax to the temperature’s reading
EXPERIMENTAL ERROR :

One of the experimental error that happened throughout these experiments is the
difference of the water temperature used during the beaker calibration, burette calibration
and pipette calibration which reduces the accuracy of the data obtained to calculate the
volume of water contained or delivered by the glassware. The precaution step that can be
taken to overcome this error is by using water with the same temperature in each experiment
and this can be carried out by reusing the same water for all the experiments or by carrying
out all the experiments at the same time to avoid the rise or drop in the water temperature
that is influenced the temperature of the surroundings. Another experimental error that
occurred is the change of settings during the experiments are carried out. The change of
settings during the experiments caused the change of room temperature which influences
the water temperature. A precaution step can be taken by carrying out all the experiments at
the same place or setting such as the laboratory. There is another experimental error found
during the process of the beaker calibration which is the observer’s eyes were not aligned
with the thermometer’s meniscus. This could result in random errors in the water’s
temperature reading. The precaution step that can be taken to avoid this experimental error
is by making sure that our eyes are aligned and parallel to the thermometer’s meniscus to
obtain accurate data for the best results.

CONCLUSION

The conclusion from this experiment is we can conclude that pipet is more accurate than
beaker and burette because the value of percentage error for pipet is 0% while for beaker is
-9.7% and for burette is 0.08%,so the second accuracy is burette and the last is beakers.We
can also conclude that pipet is more precise than burette and beaker. It is proven with the
calculation of the standard deviation which is 0.007 for pipet , 0.40 for beaker and 0.1 for
burette.The objective of the experiment is achieved because we can calculate the
percentage error,the accuracy and the precision of the glassware to define the accuracy of
the glasswares’ volume.
QUESTION
1. Explain the terms ‘precision’ and ‘accuracy’. How do they differ?

Precision Accuracy
− refers to the proximity of several − refers to the proximity of a
measurements to each other measurement to the ‘true’
(accepted) value of a quantity

− Can be expressed as a standard − Can be express as a percent

deviation error

− Measurements with high precision − A sign associated with it ( ‘+’ if

are narrowly dispersed, and these
measurements have a smaller
standard deviation than
measurements with lower
precision.
the measured value is larger
than the true value and ‘-’ if it
less than the true value)

2. Identify the statistical methods used to estimate the precision and accuracy in this
experiment

− Precision of the measurements can determined by calculating standard deviation of

each glassware and accuracy of the volumetric apparatus can be determined by
calculating the percent error.