Determining the concentration of ethanoic acid in commercial vinegar Objective To determine the concentration of ethanoic acid in commercial vinegar

by the method of titration. Apparatus and materials Safety spectacles Volumetric flask(250 cm3) Dropper Beaker (100cm3) 2 beakers(250cm3) Filter funnel Burette(50cm3) Pipette(25cm3) Pipette filler Conical Flask(250cm3) Stand and burette clamp White tile Plastic washbottle Distilled water (or deionized water), 280cm3 Standard sodium hydroxide solution( 0.1M, molarity given to at least 3 significant figures),150cm3 Colourless commercial vinegar in its original bottle (40cm3) Phenolphthalein indicator Procedure A. Determining the concentration of ethanoic acid in commercial vinegar 1.Commercial vinegar (~1M ethanoic acid) should be diluted 10 times as follows: a) The pipette should be washed with water, then with the vinegar b) 25.0cm3 of the vinegar was transferred into a 250.0cm3 volumetric flask by using a pipette filler and a washed pipette c) Distilled water was poured from a plastic washbottle into the volumetric flask, until a level about 2cm below the graduation mark d) Distilled water was added from a dropper until the lower meniscus of the solution just rested on the graduation mark. e) The stopper was pressed in position, the flask was also inverted several times to mix the contents well B.Titration

2a) The pipette was washed with water, then with the diluted vinegar. b) A pipette filler and the washed pipette was used to transfer 25.0cm3 of the diluted vinegar solution from part A into a clean conical flask. c) Two drops of phenolphthalein indicator was added to the flask. d) The burette was washed with water, then with the standard sodium hydroxide solution provided. e) The burette was filled with the sodium hydroxide solution f) The apparatus was set up as follow: I)The burette filled with sodium hydroxide was put on the stand. II)A white tile was placed on the base of the stand. III)The conical flask contained 25.0cm3 diluted vinegar solution an phenolphthalein indicator was placed above the white tile. g) Initial burette reading (to 2 decimal places) was taken and it was recorded in Table 1 h) The diluted vinegar was titrated with standard sodium hydroxide from the burette, until a persistent pale pink colour was first appeared i) Accurate titrations were carried out 4 times and readings were recorded in Table 1 below: Titration results 3)25.0cm3 of diluted vinegar solution and phenolphthalein indicator were conatined in the conical flask 4) Standard sodium hydroxide solution(0.1M) was contained by the burette
Volume(in cm3)\Titration

1st titration (trial) 23.25 0.00 23.25

2nd titration 23.70 0.70 23.00

3rd titration 23.45 0.75 22.70

4th Titration 22.25 0.30 21.95

Final burette reading Initial burette reading Volume of NaOH(aq)used

Table 1 5)Chemical equation for the reaction NaOH+CH3COOH -> H2O+CH3COOHNa 6)Average volume of sodium hydroxide used: (23+22.7+21.95)/3 cm3 = 22.55 cm3 7a) Number of moles of ethanoic acid in 25.0cm3 of the diluted vinegar solution

From the equation, mole ratio of NaOH:CH3COOH=1:1 Number of moles of ethanoic acid in 25.0cm3 of the diluted vinegar solution
0.02255dm3 x 0.1M = 2.255 x 10^-3 mol

b) Molarity of ethanoic acid in the diluted vinegar solution = (2.255 x 10^-3)/(0.025)=0.0902 M c) Molarity of ethanoic acid in the original commercial vinegar

= 0.0902 x (250/25) = 0.902M Conclusion Molarity of ethanoic acid in the original commercial vinegar is 0.902 M Discussion - The stop top was not tighten very well.