Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

Titration + Colorimetry coursework

Calibrating balances

Method for weighing solids:

- Draw out a results tables to record your results and collect your equipment.
- Turn the scales on and turn it to 0.
- Place the weight or the salt on the scales and record the mass of the weight, or the
closest mass, of salt to the needed mass on the table.
- Remove the weight or salt and place the new weight or new measurement of salt.
- Continue recording the masses of the weights and measurements of salt.
Needed mass Recorded mass
Actual mass Measured mass
1g 1.09g 1.2g 1.2g
2g 1.99g 2.5g 2.5g
3.0g 3.0g
5g 5.05g
4.1g 4.1g
10g 9.91g
5.7g 5.7g

Possible faults – The scales could give inaccurate readings. The

weights could not be exact.
Calibrating liquids

Method for calibrating liquids:

- Draw out your table to collect your results and collect your
equipment.
- Turn the scales on and turn it to zero.
- Place one piece of equipment on the scales.
- Pour water to the top measurement of equipment.
- Measure the mass of the water and record it on your table.

Page 1 of 14
 Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

- Once you have completed this for all your equipment calculate the percentage error
for each piece.

Equipment Actual mass Measured mass % error

250ml in beaker 250g 243.04g 97.216%
100ml in beaker 100g 91.95g 91.95%
3ml in pipette 3g 3g 100%
100ml in conical flask 100g 94.96g 94.96%
250ml in conical flask 250g 240.16g 96.064%
10ml in measuring cylinder 10g 9.98g 99.8%
25ml in measuring cylinder 25g 24.93g 99.72%
50ml in measuring cylinder 50g 47.52g 95.04%
Possible faults – The scales could give inaccurate readings.

Calibrating
thermometers

Method for calibrating thermometers:

- Fill up a beaker with 100ml of water and 4 or 5 ice cubes.
- Record the temperature of the water.
- Fill up a beaker with 100ml of water and heat it on a tripod and Bunsen burner until
it bubbles.
- Record the temperature of the water.

Water Actual temp Measured temp

Ice 0*C 2.8*C

Boiling 100 *C 99.8*C

Possible faults – The thermometer could give inaccurate readings.

Hazards – Could get burnt by the Bunsen burner

Calibrating pH metre

Page 2 of 14
 Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

Method of calibrating pH metres:

- Turn on your pH metre and hold the mode button until it shows ‘CAL’.
- Rinse in distilled water.
- Dip probe in first buffer solution until pH readings stay constant.
- Rinse in distilled water and dip probe in second buffer solution until pH readings stay
constant.
- Rinse and repeat for the last buffer solution.

Buffer pH Measured pH
2 2.4
3 3.4
4 4.5
5 5.4
7 7.2
8 8.0
9 8.9
10 9.6

Possible faults – There

could be inaccurate
readings from the pH
reader.
Hazards – could get acid
or alkaline in your eyes or hands – wear safety
goggles
Method of standard solution for titration:

- The method to work out the mass = moles x Mr , for 1 litre of distilled water
- Work out the Mr of NaOH ( Sodium hydroxide )
- Times it by the moles ( in this case, 1 )
- You now have the mass for 1 litre, divide the mass by 4, we only need 250ml.
- Then you end with 10g of NaOH for 250ml of distilled water.
- Mix 10g of NaOH with 90ml of distilled water and mix.

Equipment needed for titration:

- Pipette
- Beaker
- Conical flask with NaOH solution
- Burette
- Measuring cylinder
- White tile
- Clamp and clamp stand
- pH indicator (phenolphthalein)
- Funnel

Page 3 of 14
Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

Hazards and safety

Hazard Possible harm Precautions
NaOH solution Serious eye and skin Wear goggles and gloves
irritation

Hydrochloride acid spillage Eye irritation Fill the burette slowly with a
funnel

Possible faults

- The scales could give incorrect readings, wrong mass of sodium hydroxide. This
would give me the wrong concentration of alkali.
- I could have poured a little too much or too little hydrochloric acid onto the solution.
This would mean that my table of results is wrong and I have to redo my practical as I
have unreliable results.

Titrimetric standards

Titrimetric standards play a crucial role in titration because their known concentration allows
for the determination of the concentration of the analyte. Primary titrimetric standard has
only one value which is fixed, secondary titrimetric standards will have a less accurate value
as it is obtained by comparing with primary standards. Primary standards is more accurate
and reliable, the secondary standards is not as reliable and it isn’t accurate as it’s obtained
from the primary standard.

Calculate number of moles in sodium hydroxide.

1. Moles = mass/Mr
2. Mr = Na = 23. O = 16. H = 1. Mr of NaOH = 40 for 1 litre of NaOH
3. 40/4 =10g for 250 ml of 1M of NaOH.

Formula mass for solutions used for titration.

1. Sodium – 1 mole
Oxygen – 1 mole
Hydrogen – 1 mole

Hydrogen – 1 mole
Chloride – 1 mole

2. Sodium Mr – 32.1
Oxygen Mr – 16
Hydrogen Mr – 1
Chloride Mr – 35.5

Page 4 of 14
Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

3. (32.1 x 1) + (16 x 1) + (1 x 1) = 49.1 g/mol of NaOH

(1 x 1) + (35.5 x 1) = 36.5 g/mol of HCl

Calculating concentration of NaCl.

1. NaOH – volume = 25
NaOH - concentration = ?
NaOH – moles = 2.5 mol
HCl – concentration = 0.1
HCl – volume = 25
HCl – moles = 22.5 mol

2. Moles = concentration x volume

Moles = 0.1 x 25 = 2.5 HCl

3. Concentration = moles / volume

2.5 / 25 = 0.1
0.1 = concentration of NaCl
Results table for Standard solution with HCl at 0.1M
Volume Rough First Second Third
0 12.8 12.9 12.7 12.6
1 12.8 12.7 12.6
2 12.8 12.7 12.7
3 12.7 12.7 12.7
4 12.6 12.7 12.7
5 12.5 12.7 12.7 12.7
6 12.5 12.7 12.7
7 12.6 12.7 12.6
8 12.5 12.6 12.5
9 12.6 12.5 12.5
10 12.4 12.5 12.5 12.4
11 12.5 12.4 12.4
12 12.4 12.4 12.2
13 12.3 12.4 12.1
14 12.4 12.3 12
15 10.2 12.3 12.3 11.8
16 12.2 12.3 11.2
17 12.2 12.2 10.1
18 12.1 12.1 9.3
19 11.9 11.9 3.2
20 2.6 11.8 11.8 2.6
21 11.5 11.7 2.4
22 11.1 11.4 2.3
23 10.6 11.7 2.2
24 10 10.7 2.2
25 2 9.2 10.2 2.1

Page 5 of 14
Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

26 8.2 9.5 2.1

27 7.8 9.1 2.1
28 4.7 4.1 2
29 3 2.9 2
30 1.8 2.7 2.7 2

Graph for results

Change in pH of NaOH with HCl

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Series2 Series4 Series6 Series8

Average rate of titration

Average rate of titration it’s known acid

14

12

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

The graph shows that around 25ml oh hydrochloric acid is needed to neutralise the base
(NaOH).

Method of titration

- Rinse out a beaker with distilled water.

- Use a pipette and measure 25ml of 0.1M NaOH.
- Fill up the burette with HCl making sure meniscus is at zero.
- Add HCl 1cm at a time recording the pH reading each time.
- Record the results on a table and repeat three times.

Results table for standard solution with unknown acid at 0.1 M

Page 6 of 14
Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

Volume Rough First

Page 7 of 14
Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

0 12.8 12.8
1 12.7
2 12.6
3 12.6
4 12.6
5 12.7 12.6
6 12.6
7 12.6
8 12.6
9 12.7
10 12.5 12.6
11 12.5
12 12.5
13 12.5
14 12.4
15 12.4 12.4
16 12.4
17 12.4
18 12.3
19 12.2
20 12.2 12.2
21 12
22 12
23 11.9
24 11.7
25 12 11.6
26 11.3
28 11
28 10.6
29 10.4
30 11.1 9.8
31 9.3
32 8.6
33 8.2
34 7.8
35 8.9 7.5
36 6.5
37 3.2
38 2.9
39 2.8
40 3.7 2.6

Graph for results

Page 8 of 14
Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

Change in pH of NaOH with an

unknown acid
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Series2 Series4
Average rate of titration

Average rate of titration with unknown

acid
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Series2 First

The graph shows that roughly 35ml of the unknown acid is needed to neutralise the base
(NaOH).

Method of rough titration

- Rinse out a beaker with distilled water.

- Use a pipette and measure 25ml of 0.1M NaOH.
- Fill up the burette with HCl making sure meniscus is at zero.
- Add the acid to the alkali 5cm at a time, giving the flask a regular swirl and measure
the pH.
- Record in table.
- Work out the rough end point by looking at the pH readings (when it changes from
alkali to acidic).

The pH on the unknown acid would be around 2.6 as the final pH of the solution on the
graph was 2.6.

Page 9 of 14
Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

Comparison to some else’s results

Table
Volume Rough First
1 13.1 12.8
2 12.8
3 12.8
4 12.8
5 13.1 12.9
6 12.8
7 12.8
8 12.7
9 12.7
10 13 12.7
11 12.7
12 12.6
13 12.6
14 12.6
15 12.8 12.5
16 12.5
17 12.6
18 12.5
19 12.4
20 12.7 12.3
21 12.3
22 12.1
23 12
24 11.8
25 12.5 11.6
26 11.4
27 11
28 10.6
29 10.3
30 12.2 9.8
31 9
32 8.1
33 8.1
34 4.1
35 11.6 3.5
36 3.3
37 3.1
38 2.9
39 2.8
40 10.3 2.7

Page 10 of 14
Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

Graph for results

The results above show that the pH of the unknown acid was 2.7. This shows that my results
are accurate as the pH in both of out results are close. This proves that my results reliable
and precise.

The results look accurate and reliable as both my and my classmates results start at a pH of
12.8 with 0cm3 of the unknown acid and they both end with results that are quite close, I
ended with a pH of 2.6 whilst they ended with a pH of 2.7. We both added the same amount
of pH indicator and both experiments had similar turning points (when’re the pH suddenly
drops). A problem that we faced was, when we were taking our first readings for the rough
titration of the know acid, the pH meter wasn’t giving us correct reading, when it was placed
in the distilled water the pH meter showed it to be a pH of 9 so we ended up changing the
pH meter into a more accurate one that was working efficiently. A problem that may have
occurred the change in the colour of the indicator, we may have claimed that the solution
was see through when it had a pink tint to it, this problem could have been resolved as
when the colour had started to change more, we should have mixed the solution more
constantly.

Colorimetry

Calibrating the colorimeter:

- Collect a colorimeter and 2 cuvettes. You may also want a beaker for waste.
- Set the colorimeter to ‘absorbance’ and ‘green’ (the purple colour will absorb the
green light)
- Calibrate the colorimeter by filling a cuvette with distilled water and placing in the
colorimeter. Press ‘calibrate’ and ensure the reading is zero.
- Test the absorbance of each of your solutions starting with solution 6. Record your
results in the table on your sheet.

Method:

- Rack up 6 test tubes and label them 1-6.

- Use a measuring cylinder to take 10cm3 of pure cordial and place in test tube 1.
- Take 5cm3 of test tube 1 and place in test tube 2.
- Add 5cm3 of distilled water to make up to total volume 10cm3 in test tube 2.
- Take 5cm3 of test tube 2 and place in test tube 3.
- Add 5cm3 of distilled water to make up to total volume 10cm3 in test tube 3.
- Repeat this process until all test tubes have a solution in. They should get
progressively lighter in colour.

Equipment:

- Cuvette
- Colorimeter

Page 11 of 14
Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

- Test tubes
- Measuring cylinders
- Test tube rack

Formula mass for solutions used for Colorimetry.

1. Copper – 1 atoms
Sulfur – 1 atoms
Oxygen – 9 atoms
Hydrogen – 10 atoms

2. Mr of Copper = 63.5
Mr of sulphur = 32
Mr of oxygen = 16
Mr of hydrogen = 1

3. (1 x 63.5) + (1 x 32) + (9 x 16) + (10 x 1) = 249.6 g/mol is molar mass of CuSO4, 5H2O.

Health and safety

Hazards Possible harm Precautions

Solution Could get in your eye. Wear goggles

Possible faults:

- The calibrator could be give incorrect readings if it is not on the right setting.
- I could have gotten the concentration of the solutions wrong whilst measuring the
CuSO4 and distilled water.

Appropriate filter wavelength used was green light which is from 510 to 570nm.

Series dilutions:

Test tube 1 M CuSO4 (cm3) Distilled water (cm3) Concentration (M)

1 20 0 1
2 16 4 0.8
3 12 8 0.6
4 8 12 0.4
5 4 16 0.2

Data table:

Page 12 of 14
Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

Test tube Concentration Absorbance Absorbance Absorbance Mean

(M) trial 1 trial 2 trial 3 Absorbance
1 1 0.39 0.4 0.4 0.4
2 0.8 0.3 0.33 0.29 0.31
3 0.6 0.31 0.23 0.21 0.25
4 0.4 0.13 0.14 0.16 0.14
5 0.2 0.07 0.08 0.07 0.07
Unknown 0.4 0.19 0.14 0.14 0.16

My results table looks accurate as the results for the absorbance trials are similar in most
cases proving my results to be very accurate, the absorbance trials show that results in most
cases go down in similar intervals. A problem we faced whilst doing this experiment was
calibrating the colorimeter, the colorimeter was often recalibrated when someone else used
it causing others to have to recalibrate the colorimeter every time we used it. A problem
that could have occurred was making the different concentrations of copper sulphate, we
could have added the wrong amounts of distilled water making the results inaccurate and
unreliable.

Levels of absorbency at different

concentrations
0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1

Series2 Series4 Series6 Series8

The mean absorbable of the unknown acid was 0.16. When you use the graph, it will line up
with a concentration of around 0.42 which when rounded would be a concentration of 0.4.

References

- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zx98pbk/revision/2

- https://www.savemyexams.com/a-level/chemistry/cie/22/revision-notes/1-physical-
chemistry/1-7-equilibria/1-7-12-ph-titration-curves/

Page 13 of 14
Sitarah Qumi – Applied Science Coursework – Titration and Colorimetry

- https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/
colorimetry

Page 14 of 14