Name: Aljay Colley

Date: 3/12/2024

Topic: Acid-Base

Problem Statement: Plan and design an experiment to determine if green limes are more acidic than
yellow limes.

Hypothesis: Green limes exhibit higher acidity compared to yellow limes, necessitating a greater volume
of a standard solution of sodium hydroxide for complete neutralization.
Aim: To establish whether green limes exhibit higher acidity than yellow ones, we will compare the
concentration of citric acid present in each variety.

Apparatus/Materials: burette, retort stand, conical flasks, green limes, ripe limes, knife, distilled water,
filter paper, standard solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH), phenolphthalein

Procedure:
1) Cut the ripened limes in half and juice them into a beaker, then filter the juice into another beaker.
2) Measure 50 cm³ of lime juice using a measuring cylinder and add it to another beaker.
3) Measure 50 cm³ of distilled water and add it to the lime juice until it reaches a total volume of 100 cm³.
4) Rinse the pipette with a small amount of ripened lime juice solution, then pipette 25 cm³ of the solution
into each of three conical flasks.
5) Clamp the burette to the retort stand and use a funnel to fill it with the standard solution of sodium
hydroxide.
6) Add three drops of phenolphthalein indicator into each of the three conical flasks containing the lime
solution and stir gently.
7) Perform one rough titration to estimate the amount of sodium hydroxide solution needed to reach the
end point.
8) Perform two accurate titrations, recording and tabulating the data.
9) Repeat the same process for the green limes, ensuring to properly clean the pipette and conical flasks
thoroughly.
10) Calculate the molar concentration of citric acid in the undiluted green lime juice and ripe yellow lime
juice using the collected data.
Variable:
Controlled - In this experiment, consistency was maintained by controlling the volume of lime juice and
water used, ensuring a constant concentration of sodium hydroxide, and keeping the volume of lime juice
solution in each flask uniform.

Manipulated- The amount of sodium hydroxide added to neutralize the lime juice solution was varied to
assess its acidity levels accurately.

Responding- The acidity level of the lime juice from both green and yellow limes served as the primary
focus, measured by the amount of sodium hydroxide required for neutralization.

Expected results: The green limes are more acidic than the yellow (ripe) ones, based on our comparison of
their citric acid concentrations.

Treatment of Data:

Readings/cm3 Rough Titration Titration 1 Titration 2

Initial Reading/cm3
Final Reading/cm3
Volume of NaOH
used/cm3
TABLE SHOWING READINGS AND VOLUME OF SODIUM HYDROXIDE FOR GREEN LIMES

Readings/cm3 Rough Titration Titration 1 Titration 2

Initial Reading/cm3
Final Reading/cm3
Volume of NaOH
used/cm3
TABLE SHOWING READINGS AND VOLUME OF SODIUM HYDROXIDE FOR RIPE (YELLOW)
LIMES

Source of Error:
*A parallax error could occur when observing the burette and utilizing the measuring cylinder.

Precaution:
*Make sure all tools are read at the level of your eyes.
*Ensure the absence of air bubbles

Limitations:
*One qualitative characteristic that must be used to determine the maturity of limes is their color.
*The burette droplets' size