18.

5 INDICATORS
PG 229
1. B: This is because sulfuric acid is a strong acid but ammonia is a weak base, however for the use of phenolphthalein (pH range of 8.3-10.0) then the base would have to be stronger than the acid to allow the equivalence point to be between such a basic range. a. b. I would choose methyl orange. Hydrochloric acid is a strong acid whilst sodium carbonate is a weak base. Therefore the equivalence point will be acidic (the range for methyl orange) compared to basic (which would be the needed range for phenolphthalein). Yellow would be the expected color, therefore it should change from red to yellow. This is because an indicator itself is a weak acid and therefore there must be enough base to not only react with the indicator (for the color change) but also the other acid, therefore if there is too much added then this amount will no longer be negligible. Bromophenol blue would be a suitable substitute as the pK a is 4 and therefore the range will be between 4 (acidic). A viable pH that could occur at the equivalence point for this reaction. This is because it is under a logarithmic scale. Therefore even though there is only a difference of + about 2 units in terms of pH this is a major difference in terms of strength and amount of H ions present/dissociated. Therefore hydrochloric acid actually has a 100 times difference in the + number of H ions making it a much stronger acid (as it dissociates more and therefore there is a + higher concentration of H ions present.) Whilst ethanoic acid is only partially dissociated and + therefore has a much lower concentration of H ions and consequently a weaker acid. Phenolphatalein would be an appropriate choice for an indicator compared to methyl orange. This is because methyl orange recognizes an acid range (for equivalence point) whilst phenolphatelin recognizes a basic range, the range which is present with ethanoic acid and sodium hydroxide. This is because ethanoic acid is weak whilst sodium hydroixide is a strong base meaning that the equivalence point will be more basic. There is a rapid change of pH at the equivalence point and therefore it is hard to find an indicator which can be used for such a small range and will completely change color in this range. In curve B as the volume of base added is twice that needed for equivlance point where the + number of acidic ions and basic ions is equal [NH3] = [NH4 ] therefore the pH at this point is equal to the pKa.

2.

c. d.

e. 3. a.

b.

c. d.

4. a. i. The sudden drop where the equivalence point would occur at around 12.5 as it is a not a 1:1 ratio as it was with the hydrochloric acid. ii. The final pH would not be at about 1.5 but rather substantially higher. Therefore the sudden drop would not be as long as with hydrochloric acid, and will end at a higher pH. Phenolphthalein: This would be appropriate for all three reactions this is because in all cases a strong base is use and therefore the equivalence point will go through the appropriate acidic range.

b.

Methyl orange: However this would only be appropriate for the strong acids (hydrochloric and sulfuric acid), not a weak acid (ethanoic). This is because the range needed would mean that the sudden drop would have to be in an acidic range. However the weak acid will not reach this range and therefore the color change will not occur appropriately. 5. a. b. c. d. e. The conjugate base is HS + H2S(aq) HS (aq) + H (aq) -3 0.10 mol dm 4.01 A buffer solution is normally a mixture of a weak acid and its salt. This means that when a small amount of acid or base (even if they are strong) are added the buffer solution will resist a change in pH. + H2S(aq) HS (aq) + H (aq) + If sodium hydroxide is added then the OH ions will react with the H ions therefore forming more H2S, therefore as there is more concentration of H 2S then it will cause equilibrium to shift to the + right, producing more H ions until the pH is reversed back to a near original level. -3 0.196 mol dm 7.31
-

f.

g. h. i. j.

As it has a pH of 4.01 in bromothymol blue it will be yellow (acid color), but in methyl yellow it will be yellow (base color). k. Indicator change colors at different pH levels depending on the dissociation of the indicator, in specific their Kpa value. How they work is that they are also either a weak acid or base therefore + they have a reaction. For example HIn equation is HIn H + ln . Therefore the reactants will have a different color and the products will also have a different color. So if the solution is acidic + there will be more H ions therefore equilibrium will shift to the left causing that specific color to + be prominent. However if it is basic then the OH ions will react with H ions, therefore there will be less concentration on the right and to compensate for this equilibrium will shift to the right. This will cause the product color to be more prominent. l. Bromothymol blue would be an appropriate choice. This is because the equivlance point will go through a pH of 7, it also has an acidic color and therefore when a base is added there will be a qualitative change in color. However as in methyl yellow hydrogen sulfide is of a basic color it means that there will be qualitative change in color when more alkaline (base) is added. -2 + m. S + H2O HS + H3O n. It is amphiprotic it can both loose and gain a hydrogen ion. -3 o. 0.0891 mol dm p. q. Adding either hyrdorgensulfide ions, or a dilute acid which will convert the sulfide ions into hydrogensulfide ions will allow for such a buffer solution to be achieved.