QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SODA ASH BY DOUBLEINDICATOR TITRATION

E.P. MUNCAL AND J.N. GRAGEDA

DEPARTMENT OF FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION, COLLEGE OF HOME ECONOMICS
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILIMAN, QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES
DATE PERFORMED: MARCH 1, 2016
INSTRUCTORS NAME: KYLE BENITO
1. Why is there a need to boil
the distilled water in the
preparation
of
base
solution?
The distilled water should be
boiled to remove the carbon
dioxide in it since it can reach
with
water
to
produce
carbonate which can act as a
buffer.1
2. Why is the mixture of NaOH
and NaHCO3 incompatible?

Since NaOH is a strong base

and NaHCO3 is an amphoteric
salt, the reaction of the two will
produce a carbonate ion. After
the reaction, there will be less
hydroxide left and therefore the
components of the solution will
not be distinguishable.1
3. Why is there a need to boil
the solution before reaching
the methyl orange solution?
Since the titration produces a
Carbon dioxide by product. This
compound
could
possibly
interfere with the accuracy of
the values garnered from the
experiment since it can act as a
buffer
when
it
becomes
carbonate. By boiling, most of
the carbon dioxide will be
removed thus making the
accuracy of the volumes used
higher.
4. Discuss
the
basic
components of the unknown
soda ash sample based on
the volume relationship at

the
phenolphthalein
and
methyl orange endpoints.
In all of the titrations made, the
volume needed to reach the
methyl orange end point is
always larger relative to the
ones
needed
for
the
phenolphthalein
endpoint.
According to this, the soda ash
sample is composed of NaHCO3
and Na2CO3.
5. Is it possible to use NaOH as
the primary standard for
HCl?
A primary should not be
hygroscopic must have high
molar mass, and possesses a
known reaction. NaOH might
have a predictable reaction, but
it is highly hygroscopic and light
in molar mass and thereby it
cannot be used as a primary
standard.
6. Discuss the properties of an
ideal primary standard.
A primary standard should not
be hygroscopic since it needs to
be
highly
pure
upon
standardization.
A
highly
hygroscopic chemical cannot be
used as a primary standard
since it attracts moisture in its
surroundings,
and
by
this
characteristic,
its
purity
becomes lesser.2
It should also have a high molar
mass so that it can be
measured
accurately
with
minimal errors.2

The reaction of the standard

with the titrant should also
predictable so that it is easy to
predict the possible products of
the titration.2
7. Explain the rationale behind
not storing basic solutions
in volumetric glassware.

Basic solutions are not stored

in
volumetric
glassware
because it will react with the
silica, which composes the
glass, to form sodium silicate.
This reaction can destroy the
insides of the glassware.1
8. Discuss the possible sources
of errors and their effects on
calculated parameters.
One of the possible sources of
errors is the wrong execution of
the procedures. For instance, if
the
prepared
solutions
exceeded
the
expected
concentration, the values for
the endpoints will become
erroneous.
Moreover,
the
volumes accounted for the
titration will also wrong if the
amount of titrant in the burette
had
not
been
correctly
measured, or when the titration
process starts and the amount
of titrant in the burette was not

recorded, the correct amount of

titrant will not be determined.
9. Discuss
the
cause
of
carbonate error and its
effect on the calculated
values
obtained
in
the
standardization and sample
analysis.
The carbonate error affects the
calculated
values
for
the
standardization
and
sample
analysis since it increases the
pH of the samples to be
analyzed thus needing more of
the titrant to reach end point. It
might increase or decrease the
number of moles needed to
reach the visible endpoint.3
References
[1] Skoog, D.A., West, D.M., Holler, F.J.
Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry.
Saunders College Publications, New
York. 1988.
[2]
Seattle
P.I.
http://education.seattlepi.com
/characteristics-primary-standardtitration-5535.html. (Accessed, March
7, 2016)
[3]
HyperQuad.
http://www.hyperquad.co.
uk/documents/Carbonate
%20impurity.pdf. (Accessed, March 7,
2016)