SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC DETERMINATION OF

EQUILIBRIUM CONSTANT OF A REACTION

GISELLE REYES1 AND REGINA MAE BULAONG2
1
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS, COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
2
DEPARTMENT OF MINING, METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING,
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILIMAN QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES
DATE PERFORMED: SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
INSTRUCTOR: LIZETTE MELLA

ABSTRACT
This experiment aims to determine the Equilibrium Constant of the formation
of Iron-Thiocyanate complex by Spectrophotometry through the use of BeerLamberts law. This gives the relationship between the light absorbed in the UV-Vis
spectrophotometer and the concentration of a solution. The absorbance of the
solution were measured and then used to determine the concentration of the
solution at equilibrium. The equilibrium constant, K eq, was obtained using the
obtained equilibrium concentration. Using the data gathered and computed, an
equation was formed to get the molar absorptivity. The results of this experiment
showed that there is relationship between the absorbance and the concentration of
solution.

INTRODUCTION
Spectrophotometry is a method to
measure how much a chemical
substance absorbs light by measuring
the intensity of light as a beam of light
passes through a solution. The basic
principle is that each compound
absorbs or transmits light at a certain
range of wavelength. The BeerLamberts law relates the absorbance
of light to the concentration of the
substance. The relationship is shown
in this equation:
A = bc

(1)

A is the absorbance, is the molar

absorptivity, b is the path length in cm
and c is c is the analyte molar
concentration. However, this equation
is only applicable in highly diluted
solutions since concentrated solution
will not make a straight path. Also, the
temperature should be constant so the
value of the equilibrium constant, K eq
will not change.
For this experiment the reaction of
iron(III) with thiocyanate to produce
iron(III) thiocyanate at equilibrium was
observed.
Fe3+ + SCN- FeSCN2+ (2)

The quantitative measurement of

equilibrium of a reaction is measure
through the equilibrium constant
which
is
obtained
using
the
concentrations of the substances at
equilibrium. For this experiment K eq
equation is:
Keq = [FeScn2+]eq
(3)
[Fe 3+]eq[SCN-]eq
In this experiment, a wavelength of
465 nanometers was used. This is due
to the color of the complex which is
within
the
range
of
440-470
nanometers. Also, the calibration
curve of spectrophotometry was used
to determine the molar absorptivity of
FeSCN2+. The equation of the graph is:
y = mx + b (4)
where y is the absorbance, is the
slope m and is the error since the
relationship between the absorbance
and concentration was established.
The purpose of this experiment is to
determine the Keq of the reactionbased
on spectrophotometry and with the
use of Beer-Lamberts law and to
calculate the experimental value of K eq
and its deviation from the literature
value.

CONCLUSION
The absorbance increased as the
concentration of iron(III) thiocyanate
increased. Therefore, there is a direct
proportional
relationship
between
these two factors. This relationship
can be used to determine the
equilibrium constant of the reaction.
The Beer-Lamberts law shows direct
relationship between the absorbance
of the substance and its concentration.
Deviation from the literature value
may be caused by factors that affect
the handling of the experiment such
as the concentration, temperature and
human
error
in
following
the
procedure.
However,
it
is
recommended that in order to avoid
such deviations, more vital procedures

should
be
followed
to
understand the concept of Keq.

further

REFERENCES:
[1] Brown, Theodore E. Lemay, H.
Eugene, et. Al., 11th edition. Chemistry:
The Central Science. Pearson
Education Inc., 2009.
[2] Petrucci, Ralph H., William S.
Harwood, and Geoffrey F. Herring, 8th
edition. General Chemistry. PrenticeHall, 2002