Abbigale Campbell

Lab #: 3
Date: October 19, 2018
Title: Determination of the concentration of NaOH using HCL
Aim: To determine the concentration sodium hydroxide using an accurately known solution
of HCL
Introduction: NaOH and HCL neutralise each other to form a salt and water only. If the
concentration of the HCL is accurately know, it can be to determine the concentration of a
solution of sodium hydroxide NaOH is a common reagent used in acid-base titrations but its
concentration would not be accurately known as it is hygroscopic and it absorbs carbon
dioxide gas from the air. Considering NaOH is a strong base and HCL is a strong acid, either
methyl orange or phenolphthalein can be used as the indicator to determine the end-point.
Please note the solution of known concentration is called the titrant and the solution to be
analysed is called the titrand.
Procedure:
1) Rinse the equipment with the appropriate solutions
2) Pipette 25 cm3 of sodium hydroxide solution into a conical flask
3) Fill the burette to the zero mark with the standard 0.1 mol dm-3 HCL making sure
there are no air bubbles in the tip.
4) Add two drops of methyl orange indicator, swirl and then titrate with constant
swirling against the acid until one drop of acid turns the mixture orange with a tinge
of pink.
5) Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have obtained consistent results
6) Do not write a full lab report, complete the results table below and answer the
questions that follow.
Results and Calculations:
BURETTE TRIAL 1 2 3
READINGS (CM3)

Final Volume 19.80 19.70 19.60 19.60

Initial Volume 0.40 0.20 0.10 0.20
Volume Used 19.40 19.50 19.50 19.40

1. Determine the average volume of acid used in the titration and the number of
moles if HCL used.
Average volume of acid = 19.50 + 19.50+ 19.40
= 58.4 / 3
= 19.46 cm3
Number of moles = Molar Concentration * volume / 1000
= 0.1 * 19.46 cm3 /1000
= 1.946 *10-3 mol or 0.001946 mol
2. With the aid of a balanced chemical equation between NaOH and HCL,
Calculate the molar and mass concentration of NaOH.

Balanced Equation = NaOH + HCL NaCl + H2O

Molar Concentration = 1 mol HCL 1 mol NaOH
0.001946mol X
= 0.001946 * 1 = X
X = 0.001946 mol
Molar concentration = 0.001946/ 25cm3 = 7.784*10-5

Mass Concentration = Molar Concentration * Relative Molecular Mass

= 0.00007*40
= 0.0028gdm-3

3. If the NaOH was prepared approximately a week ago and its mass concentration was
8g dm-3, what is the percentage purity of the NaOH at present?
Percentage purity = Mass concentration x 100/ 8
= 1.6 x 100/8
= 20%
4.The end point is observed when there is the first permanent colour change based on
the indicator used. What is the equivalence point of a titration?
Ans = The equivalence point is when the moles of a standard solution (titrant) equal the
moles of a solution of unknown concentration (analyte).

5. The end-point of this reaction could have been determined using changes in pH.
Sketch a pH curve for this experiment and show on the graph the equivalence point.

14

7 EQUIVALENT POINT

0
6.It is always stressed that burette readings should always be TWO decimal places and
not one. Suggest a reason for this emphasis.
A higher level of accuracy is gained when read with two decimal places.

Discussion:
Titration is the slow addition of one solution of a known concentration (called a titrant) to a
known volume of another solution of unknown concentration until the reaction reaches
neutralization, which is often indicated by a colour change. In a titration experiment the
titrant is a solution of known concentration and volume. Whereas the analyte or the titrand is
the solution of unknown concentration. For this experiment the titrant used was 25 cm3 of
NaOH and the analyte was 0.1 mol HCL. Titration involves measuring the volume of a
solution of known concentration (the standard solution or titrant) which is required to react
quantitatively with another solution of unknown concentration (analyte). Generally, the titrant
is added from a burette to a known volume of analyte until the reaction is complete. This is
called the equivalence point which is the point in a titration where the amount of titrant added
is enough to completely neutralize the analyte solution. The moles of titrant (standard
solution) equal the moles of the solution with unknown concentration. An indicator (a
chemical used to show the neutralization point of a chemical reaction usually marked by a
colour change) is usually used to signal the end of the reaction in this case methyl orange was
used which resulted in a pink colour change. The concentration of the unknown solution can
then be determined from the stoichiometry of the reaction and the volume of standard
solution used in the reaction. Substances of known purity are used to prepare standard
solutions. These substances are called Primary Standards. A primary standard is a substance
of high purity that is used to prepare the concentration of the standard solution in the
volumetric analysis. It provides reference to determine unknown concentrations.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that the concentration of NaOH with the use of HCL can be
discovered by carrying out a titration Experiment. And also with the use of a methyl orange
which results in a pink colour change.