AP CHEMISTRY / CLAIM EVIDENCE REASONING ASSIGNMENT
NAME: Elijah Tai
QUESTION: How Do the Structure and the Initial Concentration of an Acid and a Base Influence the pH of the Resultant
Solution During a Titration?
CLAIM: While higher acid strength (structure) and higher initial acid
concentration both raise and alter the overall pH curve of a titration,
acid strength (structure) has a greater influence than concentration.
EVIDENCE
The equilibrium point was estimated through a differential equation
by using a Euler Approximation to find the point at which the first
derivative was the greatest. One example is shown below. This is
because the equivalence point often occurs when the slope of the
graph is the steepest due to sudden changes in pH in the solution.
Graph 1
Graph 2
REASONING
1. The effect of structure and concentration on the pH at the
equivalence point.
By analyzing the equivalence points as demonstrated in graph 1, the weak
acid titration had a pH higher than 7, the weak base had a pH significantly
lower than 7, and the strong acid strong base had a pH of roughly 7. This was
expected due to the weak conjugate ions being present in solution at
equilibrium. While the concentration of sodium hydroxide added in graph 3
was significantly less than the concentration in graph 4, this had little effect
on the pH indicating that the concentration plays a minimal role in
Graph 3
determining the pH at equilibrium while structure does.
2. The effect of structure and concentration on the initial pH.
The initial pH of a titration curve is determined simply by the number of
dissociated H+ ions, as none of the base has been added yet. pH is
determined by the dissociation constant (which is related to acid/base
structure) and the concentration of the solution. By looking at the equation
pH = -log10([H+]) we see that the actual concentration of H+ ions does not
play a large role in initial pH because the function is logarithmic, meaning
that only powers of ten should significantly alter the pH. Thus, the identity of
the acid (its structure) plays a much larger role because it affects the pH
directly.
Graph 4
3. The effect of structure and concentration on the shape of the graph.
Another important aspect is how the structure of the acid/base alters the
buffer region of the graph. As shown by the small bumps in graph 2 and 3 (at
10ml) and the bump in the derivative in graph 1. This occurs (at half the
concentration of the equivalence point) when the [HA] and [A-]
concentrations are equal, forming a buffer that resists pH change. However,
this doesnt occur in strong acid strong base titrations as shown in graph 4
because their conjugate anions and cations do not affect the pH. In this way,
we see another way the structure of the acid alters the pH curve, while the
concentration has less effect.