Experiment No.
05: DETERMINATION OF THE STRENGTH OF AN ACID
BY pH METRY
Aim:
To determine the strength of a weak acid by titrating with NaOH using pH meter.
Apparatus required: pH – meter with electrodes, beaker, pipette, burette
Chemicals required: 0.1N NaOH, Acetic acid, Buffer solution of pH = 4.0
Principle:
pH of a Solution
The acidic or basic property of substances is measured in terms of pH. It is a measurement of the
hydrogen ion concentration in moles per liter.
liter. pH is defined as the negative logarithm (base 10) of
hydrogen ion concentration.
If the hydrogen ion concentration
ation is very high, the pH value is very low. This is determined using a
scale ranging from 0-1414 called the pH scale. It was introduced by a Danish chemist Soren Peder
Lauritz Sorensen.
Substances with pH lower than 7 are acidic, those with pH equal to 7 aare re neutral and those with pH
greater than 7 are basic in nature.
pOH of a Solution
p OH is used to measure the concentration of hydroxyl ions (OH- ions) or the alkalinity of a
solution. POH is defined as the negative logarithm (base 10) of hydroxyl ion co
concentration.
pOH is derived from pH and are related by the equation,
When a solution of an acid is titrated with the solution of an alkaline, the change in the pH will be
reflected in change of ‘EMF’’ (potential) value. When
hen a small amount of standar
standard alkaline is added
to the acid, a little change in the EMF is produced in the beginning.
beginning The he change in the electrode
potential depends upon the fraction of hydrogen ions removed as a result of neutralization reaction
with the hydroxide ions added. As equivalence point reaches, a rapid change in the EMF is
observed.. Above the equivalence point there is again small change in the EMF by the addition of
excess of alkaline (due to increase in OH- ions concentration).. Thus if the EMF of the cell is plotted
against the volume of the standard alkali added a curve is obtained.
CH3COOH + NaOH CH3COONa + H2O
The point of intersection in the curve (the point where that curve changes its curvature) gives the
equivalence point. When titration curve does not show a sharpsharp intersection point
point, identifying the
exact location of the point of intersection becomes rather difficult. In that case, the differential
method where ∆E /∆V values change in E (pH) resulting from the successive additions of the
reagent (0.2 to 0.4) is plotted against the volume of the reagent added. The maximum of the curve
(differential curve) so obtained corresponds to the equivalence point of the titration.
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Procedure:
Calibration of pH meter
To Calibrate the pH meter first select pH mode by using selector
Set the temperature at room temperature by using temp. knob,
Keep the check and read button at check position,
Set 7.00 (see display) by using (set 7.00) knob,
Now wash the electrode with distilled water and dry it with tissue paper carefully,
Connect the electrode with pH meter,
Take (pH= 4.0) buffer solution in beaker dip the electrode carefully,
Now Keep the check and read button at Read position and check it pH, in display it shows 4.00
if it is not, change it 4.00 by using set buffer knob.
Now the pH meter is ready to use.
Now Pipette out 25 ml of the given acid in a beaker. Dip the calomel electrode into the solution.
Take care that the lower ends of the electrodes immerse completely into the solution.
Read the pH, note down the pH in the observation table
Add 1 ml of the standard 0.1N NaOH solution from the burette, stir the solution carefully with a
glass rod (do not remove the glass rod from the solution) to completely mix the solution and
read pH.
Continue addition of NaOH (1 ml at a time) and take the pH readings after each addition of 1 ml
of NaOH.
The pH slowly changes after each addition in the beginning.
After a few additions of the alkali, a sudden rise in the pH of the solution is observed and
thereafter taken at least five more readings.
The end point of the titration can be judged because there is sudden increase in the pH at the
endpoint during the titration.
After the titration, wash the electrodes with the water and leave them dipped in the water.
Switch off the pH meter.
Observation Table :
S.No Volume of NaOH pH dpH / dv
added (ml)
1.
2.
3.
4.
dpH = The difference between successive readings in the pH values.
Then dV is equal to unity for each reading.
Calculations and graph:
1. Plot the graph of pH vs Volume of alkali added (V ml), and from the graph
determine the ml of 0.1N NaOH required for complete neutralization of 25 ml of the
acid.
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2. Plot the graph pH Vs dpH /dV : To determine the exact end point of the
titration.
Calculations:
Calculate the Normality of Acetic acid
NaOH CH3COOH
V1 = (from graph) V2 = 25 ml
N1 = 0.1N N2 =?
N1V1 = N2V2
N2 = N1V1 / V2
= 0.1 X V1 (from graph)
25
Normality of the acid = N2 = -------- N
Strength of the Acetic acid:
= ( Normality of acetic acid × equivalent weight of CH3COOH) =…… g/Lit
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Result:
Normality of given acid is = ………N.
Normality of the acid is = …………N.
Strength of the acid = ……. g/Lit.
Precautions:
Both electrodes must dip into the solution.
Glass rod used for stirring should not be removed from the solution during titration.
Once the pH meter is standardized with the knobs, do not disturb the position of these knobs
throughout the experiment.
Combined electrode is very sensitive so use it carefully.
Use distilled water for washing and rinsing of glass apparatus.
Prepare NaOH and Acetic acid solutions in distilled water.
For More Studies
Analytical methods that are based on electrode potential measurements are termed potentiometric
methods.
In this experiment the pH meter will be utilized to measure potential and pH.
The pH of a substance is a measure of its acidity, just as a degree is measure of temperature.
The term pH means negative logarithm of hydrogen ion concentration or activity Mathematically,
pH = log10 [H+]
= - log10 a H+
The potentiometric method is generally used for the determination of pH of a solution
Potentiometric method : The pH of a solution can be accurately determined by this method
using an electrode that is reversible to H+ e.g., Hydrogen electrode, Quinhydrone electrode. Glass
electrode etc. Glass electrode in conjunction with a reference electrode (e.g. standard Calomel
electrode, SCE) is most commonly used for the determination of pH of solution.
The cell so formed can be represented as follows:
Ag, AgCl (S) | HCl (0.1M) | Glass | Test solution | KCl (satd.), Hg2Cl2(S) | Hg
The E.M.F. of the complete cell is given by
E cell = E0 + 0.0591 pH
pH = (E cell – E0)/0.0591 at 250C
In this experiment we use combined electrode, This is combination of glass electrode and calomel
electrode.
The Glass electrode
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The glass electrode is the most widely used hydrogen ion responsive electrode. It works on the
principle that when a specially prepared glass membrane is immersed in a solution, a potential is
developed which is a linear function of the hydrogen ion concentration of the solution. The glass
electrode comprises of a bulb, B, which is filled with 0.1M HCl solution and into which a Silver –
Silver chloride electrode is inserted. As long as the concentration of the internal HCl solution is
maintained constant, the potential of the
Ag- AgCl electrode inserted into the inner surface of the glass bulb will be constant.
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