Haziq Rauf

Jacky Chan

Analysis of Commercial Bleach Lab

I. Purpose

In this experiment, the amount of sodium hypochlorite in a commercial bleach will be

determined by reacting it with sodium thiosulfate in the presence of iodide ions and starch.
A solution of sodium thiosulfate of known concentration will be added to the bleach using a
buret in a titration procedure. The disappearance of the dark blue color of the starch-iodine
complex will signal the end point.

II. Procedures
Pre-Lab Questions
1. What is meant by a “titration”?
Titration is a technique where a solution of known (acid or base) concentration is used
to determine the concentration of an unknown (acid or base) solution.

2. A solution of household vinegar (a mixture of acetic acid and water) is to be analyzed.

A pipet is used to measure out 10.0 mL of the vinegar, which is placed in a 250-
mL volumetric flask. Distilled water is added until the total volume of solution is 250
mL. A 25.0-mL portion of the diluted solution is measured out with a pipet and titrated
with a standard solution of sodium hydroxide.

The neutralization reaction is as follows:

HC2H3O2(aq) + OH-(aq) → C2H3O2-(aq) + H2O(l)
It is found that 16.7 mL of 0.0500 M NaOH is needed to titrate 25.0 mL of the diluted
vinegar.
Calculate the molarity of the diluted vinegar.
Molarity=Moles/Volume
Moles = Molarity x Volume
(.0500 M NaOH)(16.7 mL) = ( x M diluted vinegar)( 25.0 mL)
x M diluted vinegar = .0334 M diluted vinegar

3. Calculate the molarity of the household vinegar.

Molarity = Moles/Volume

Moles = Molarity x Volume

(.0334 M diluted vinegar)(250 mL of diluted vinegar) = ( x M household vinegar)( 10.0
mL of Household vinegar)
x M household vinegar = (.0334 M diluted vinegar x 250 mL of diluted vinegar)/ 10.0 mL
of Household Vinegar
x M household vinegar = .835 M

4. The household vinegar has a density of 1.05g/mL. Calculate the percent by mass of
acetic acid in the household vinegar.
 (.835 mol/1 L) x (1L/1000mL) x (1 mL/1.05g) x (59.05g C 2H3O2/1 mol C2H3O2) x 100% =
4.70%
Materials – Chemicals
 Commercial Bleach, NaClO
 Hydrochloric Acid, HCl, 3M, 6 mL
 Potassium Iodide, KI, 6 g
 Sodium Thiosulfate Solution, Na2S2O3, 0.100 M, 70 mL
 Starch Solution, 2%, 3 mL

Materials – Equipment

 Balance, 0.1-g precision

 Buret
 Buret Clamp
 Erlenmeyer Flask
 Pipet Bulb
 Ring Stand
 Transfer Pipets
 Volumetric Flask with Stopper
 Wash Bottle
 Water, distilled
 Weighing Dish

Procedure

 Measure 5.00 mL of commercial bleach into a 100-mL volumetric flask.

 Dilute the bleach with distilled or deionized water to the mark and mix well.
 Weigh out 2 g of solid KI. Pipet 25.0 mL of the dilute bleach into an Erlenmeyer flask.
 Add the solid KI along with 25 mL of distilled or deionized water.
 Add 2 mL of 3 M HCl while stirring the solution.
 Fill the buret with 0.100 M sodium thiosulfate solution until the iodine color fades to
light yellow.
 Add one dropperful of starch solution.
 Continue the titration until one final drop of Na 2S2O3 causes the color to disappear.
 Record the final buret reading.
 Repeat the titration procedure two more times to receive more accurate results.
III. Data Collection

Titration of Iodine Solution

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Initial Buret Reading 0 19 0
Final Buret Reading 19 36 19
Volume Na2S2O3 19 17 19

IV. Data Analysis

Calculations
1. Determine the number of moles of sodium thiosulfate that are equivalent to one mole
of sodium hypochlorite.
1 mol ClO- x (1 mol I2/1 mol ClO-) x (1 mol I3-/1 mol I2) x (2 mol S2O32-/1 mol I3-) = 2 mol
S2O32-. Therefore, 1 mol ClO- = 2 mol S2O32-
2. Calculate the average volume of Na2S2O3 needed for the titration of 25.0 mL of diluted
bleach.
19 mL + 17 mL + 19 mL = 55/3 = 18.33
3. Use the average volume and molarity of Na2S2O3 to determine the molarity of the
diluted bleach.
(.100 M Na2S2O3)(.0183 L Na2S2O3) = 2(X M ClO)(.025 mL ClO), X = .037 M ClO
4. Calculate the average molarity of the commercial bleach before it was diluted.
(.100 L)(.037 M ClO-) = (.005 L)(X), X= .73 M ClO- before dilution
5. Assume the density of the commercial bleach is 1.08 g/mL. Calculate the average
percent by mass of NaClO in the commercial bleach.
.73 mol x (1 L/1000 mL) x (1 mL/1.08g) x (74.4 g NaClO/1 mol) x 100% =5.03%
6. From the label information of the commercial bleach calculate the average deviation
of the three values.
l19 – 18.33l = .67, l17 – 18.33l = 1.33, l19 – 18.33l = .67,
.67 + 1.33 + .67 = 2.67/3 = .89
7. Calculate the percent error of your value.
(l5.03 – 6.00l/6.00) x 100 = 16.2% error

Questions
1. Define oxidation and reduction.
Oxidation is the gain of oxygen, and reduction is the loss of oxygen.
2. Write balanced oxidation and reduction half-reactions for the overall redox reactions
in equations (1) and (3) in the Background section. For each half-reaction, identify
which substance is oxidized or reduced.
Equation 1: Cl2(g)  ClO-(aq) + Cl-(aq), Chlorine is being reduced
2OH-(aq)  H2O(l), Hydroxide is being oxidized

Equation 3: I2(aq) + I-(aq)  I3-(aq), I2 is being reduced

3. In this analysis, an “aliquot”, (diluted fraction) of the initial solution is used for the
titration. What advantage is there in diluting the original solution for the analysis?
Dilution is used to provide for greater accuracy when titrating.
4. How many 25.0-mL aliquots can be measured from a 100-mL volumetric flask? Explain.
Only 3. Although 100 mL/25 mL = 4, you will receive 3 complete aliquots and the final
aliquot will not be complete because it is nearly impossible to take out 100% of a liquid
out of a flask.
5. The reaction of triiodide with thiosulfate produces the dithionate ion, S 4O62-. Calculate
the oxidation number of sulfur in this ion. Do you think that the sulfur atoms in S 4O62-
all have the same oxidation number? What might the oxidation numbers be?
Oxidation number of Sulfur: 6 x -2 = -12, since the overall charge is -2, 4X + -12 = -2, 4X =
10, X = 10/4, The oxidation number of Sulfur is 5/2. These sulfur atoms do not have the
same oxidation numbers, two of the sulfur atoms have a charge of 5, while the other
two have a charge of 2.
 6. How would each of the following laboratory mistakes affect the calculated value of
the percent of NaClO in the commercial bleach (too high, too low, no change)?
Explain.
a. In step 1, the pipet was rinsed with distilled water immediately before being
used to measure the commercial bleach solution.
If the pipet was rinsed with distilled water immediately before being used to
measure the commercial bleach solution, the percent of NaClO would not
change. This small amount of dilution can be ignored.
b. In step 2, three grams of KI were used instead of two grams.
If three grams of KI were used instead of two, the percent of NaClO would
become lower due to the even mole ratio’s.
c. In step 3, some of the iodine that formed sublimed from the solution.
If some of the iodine sublimed from the solution, the percent of NaClO would
have risen due to the even mole ratio’s.
7. What is the major source of experimental error in this experiment? Explain.
The major source of experimental error in this experiment is over-titrating. When we
add Na2S2O2, we must be extremely precise, and it is nearly impossible to reach the
exact equivalence point.

V. Conclusion

In this experiment, we determined the amount of sodium hypochlorite in a

commercial bleach. We reacted sodium hypochlorite with sodium thiosulfate in the
presence of iodide ions and starch. The starch in the solution acted as a color indicator for
when the titration reached its equivalence point. The equivalence point is the exact moment
when the color indicator changes color, and when the amount of titrant added is
stoichiometrically equal to the amount of analyte present. We noticed that after numerous
titration attempts, the amount of titrant was very precise and accurate each time. This
accuracy may be due to the dilution of the bleach. (Dilution provides for more accuracy
when titrating).

The reason we used starch in this lab was because it turns the solution into a blue
color. It is possible to titrate without starch, but going from a yellow color to a clear color is
very sensitive, and may lead to errors in the lab. We were also told to add the starch
towards the ending of the titration rather than the beginning. The reason we do this is
because if the starch is added to a solution which contains a great deal of iodine, the
complex which forms may not be reversible. Therefore the starch is not added until shortly
before the end point is reached.

In conclusion, we confirmed how much titrant was needed to make the bleach reach
its equivalence point.

VI. Error Analysis

 In this experiment there were many possible sources of error. 2 specific sources of
error were; over-titrating, and adding the starch to the bleach too early in the process.
When we were titrating our solutions, we had to be very precise and quick to react upon
how much titrant we were supposed to add. If we added too much, we wouldn’t be able to
tell how much was supposed to be added for its equivalence point. This would change the
percent of NaClO by making it higher than it is supposed to be. Also, if we added the starch
to the analyte too early (before the bleach turned light yellow), the whole process would be
irreversible and the color may never indicate the equivalence point.

Error Calculation

(l5.03 – 6.00l/6.00) x 100 = 16.2% error