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Acid-Base Crime Scene Titration

The document describes an experiment to identify a murderer through acid-base titration. A crime scene sample of hydrochloric acid with a molarity of 0.48 M matched the molarity of suspect A's sample of 0.5 M hydrochloric acid. The titration involved neutralizing unknown acid samples with sodium hydroxide and determining molarity based on the volume of sodium hydroxide used. Contamination may have caused an error in the first trial, but the second trial clearly identified suspect A as the killer based on matching molarities of hydrochloric acid.

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Tracy Rojas
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184 views6 pages

Acid-Base Crime Scene Titration

The document describes an experiment to identify a murderer through acid-base titration. A crime scene sample of hydrochloric acid with a molarity of 0.48 M matched the molarity of suspect A's sample of 0.5 M hydrochloric acid. The titration involved neutralizing unknown acid samples with sodium hydroxide and determining molarity based on the volume of sodium hydroxide used. Contamination may have caused an error in the first trial, but the second trial clearly identified suspect A as the killer based on matching molarities of hydrochloric acid.

Uploaded by

Tracy Rojas
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Rojas, Tracy Chemistry Period 5 May 11, 2013

Acid-Base Crime Scene Titration


Introduction The purpose of this lab was to identify who killed Mr. Mek through the analysis and the matching of the molarity of the crime scene HCl acid to the molarity of the suspect found in the investigation. In order to do this, an understanding of acids and bases was needed. Acid are a type of chemical that gives away hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. A base is a type of chemical that absorbs hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. So when an acid and base react with each other they will neutralize each other and produce a solution that is not acidic or basic: simply neutral. Neutralization is a reaction in which an acid and base react to produce neutral water and salt. Once the reaction reaches it equivalence point, a point where mole of base equal mole of acid, a phenolphthalein indicator will be use to determine whether it is a base or an acid. If the solutions turn pink it is a base. If it is an acid, it will stay cleared. In order to do this, one must use a titration. Titration is a technique used to determine the concentration of an unknown acid or base. Titrating allows the molarity of an unknown acid or base to be found precisely. The molarity, or the concentration of a solution is expressed in moles/liter of the solution. Therefore, matching the molarity of the crime scene to the other suspects molarity will lead to the murderer.

Rojas, Tracy Chemistry Period 5 May 11, 2013 Procedure 1. Safety Goggles were worn. Following materials were used. 50 mL graduated cylinder 50 mL burette, stand, and clamp 125 mL Erlenmeyer flask. Phenolphthalein indicator Glass Funnel

2. The stopcock was turn to the bottom of the burette so that it was perpendicular to the tube of the burette 3. The burette was filled to the top with the 1.0 molarity of NaOH base. The initial volume of NaOH was recorded. 4. An acid was measure exactly 20 (mL) using a graduated cylinder. Then was pour into the Erlenmeyer flask. The flask was positioned on a white paper towel, directly beneath the burette to see the color change. 5. 3 drops of phenolphthalein indicator were added to the acid. 6. The unknown acid was titrated with NaOH by opening the stopcock until there was a slow stream of NaOH 7. The flask was gently swirled to make the color disappear and observations were recorded. 8. When solution turned pink it was reaching neutralization 9. The stopcook was then turn to partly open. Where individual drops were coming from the burette one at a time. 10. The stopcook was closed once it reached a pink color. 11. The final volume of NaOH was recorded.
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Rojas, Tracy Chemistry Period 5 May 11, 2013 12. The total volume (mL) of NaOH that was used was calculated to neutralize the suspects acid sample and was recorded on the data table. 13. The burette was refilled with NaOH and the procedures were repeated for other samples.

Rojas, Tracy Chemistry Period 5 May 11, 2013

Data: Table 1.Volume, Molarity, and Observation of Suspects


Exact Volume of HCl (mL) Suspect A Kirkpatrick HCl Acid Suspect B Larkin HCl Acid Suspect C Nguyen HCl Acid Crime Scene HCl Acid Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 1 Trial 2 19 mL 18 mL 19.5 mL 19 mL 21 mL 20 mL 19 mL 19 mL Initial Volume of NaOH (mL) 3.1 mL 4.3 mL 12.7 mL 13.7 mL 16.8 mL 17.8 33.7 mL .5 mL Final Volume of NaOH (mL) 12.7 mL 13.7 mL 16.8 mL 17.9 mL 33.7 mL 33.4 mL 43.6 mL 9.8 mL Total Volume of NaOH Used in titration (mL) 9.6 mL 9.6 mL 4.1 mL 4.2 mL 16.9 mL 15.6 mL 9.9 mL 9.3 mL Molarity of HCl (M) Observations / Notes

.50 M HCl .50 M HCl .21 M HCl .22M HCl .80 M HCl .78 M HCl .50 M HCl .48 M HCl

Extremely pink Pink Really Pink Pink Extremely Pink Light pink Too Pink Successfully Slightly Pink

Rojas, Tracy Chemistry Period 5 May 11, 2013

Calculation (See attached)

Rojas, Tracy Chemistry Period 5 May 11, 2013 Conclusion


The purpose of the lab was met and the killer was Mrs. Kirkpatrick due to the matching molarity of the crime scene HCL and that of the suspect A acid. The titration was used to solve the concentration of the unknown acid or base; once the crime scene HCl acid was neutralized, a reaction in which an acid and a base react to produce neutral water and salt, and the molarity of that acid was .48 M HCl. This proves how suspect A, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, was the killer due to having the closest molarity of HCl, .5 M HCl.

Furthermore, the conclusion was based on trial 2, due to having some sort of error in trial 1 of the crime scene. For the crime scene HCl acid in trial one, the molarity was .50M indicating that there was some sort of error. A possible source of error could be carbon dioxide because it made the solution of HCl inside the flask to become acidic causing an increased on the molarity of NaOH as result. Another source of error can be the Erlenmeyer flask because it was not being rinsed at all. As seen in the data, Mrs. Kirkpatrick molarity of HCl was supposed to be a little less than that of the Crime scene HCl. And since the Erlenmeyer flask was not being rinsed it could have caused contamination with the other neutralized solution causing the Mrs. Kirkpatrick the suspect to need less volume to reach neutralization. As a result the total amount of NaOH used to successfully neutralize the solution was 9.6 mL NaOH which caused the molarity, .50 HCl, to be more than the crime scene of HCl acid, .48 M. In conclusion the molarity of suspect A did not match exactly with that of the crime scene HCl acid, due to the contamination.

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