1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS PAGE
ABSTRACT 2
INTRODUCTION 3
OBJECTIVES 3
THEORY 4
APPARATUS 6
PROCEDURE 6
RESULT 8
SAMPLE OF CALCULATIONS 12
DISCUSSIONS 17
CONCLUSIONS 18
RECOMMENDATIONS 18
REFERENCES 18




2

ABSTRACT
This experiment is carried out to determine the concentration of acetic acid in
vinegar. The aims of this experiment are to find the molarity of a solution and the percent by
mass of acetic acid in vinegar by titration with a standardized sodium hydroxide solution.
The standardized sodium hydroxide is prepared by titration process. For first experiment,
KHP solution is prepared and be titrated with NaOH solution. The titration is repeated to
standardize the NaOH solution. For the first titration, the molarity of NaOH obtained is
0.5912 M, while for the second titration is 0.5925 M. The average molarity of standardized
NaOH solution is 0.5919 M. For the second experiment, the vinegar is titrated with the
standardized NaOH solution. The molarity and the percentage by mass of acetic acid in
vinegar for the first titration are 1.705 M and 10.24%, respectively, and for the second
titration are 1.693 M and 10.17%, respectively. The average percentage by mass of acetic
acid in vinegar is 10.21%.












3

INTRODUCTION
Concentration of solution is the amount of solute in a given amount of solvent. A
concentrated solution contains relatively large quantity of solute in a given amount of
solvent. Dilute solutions contain relatively little solute in a given amount of solvent. There
are 2 specifics term to express concentration, which is molarity and percent by mass.
Molarity is the number of moles of solute per liter of solution.
()


(Equation 1-1)
Percent by mass is the mass in grams of solute per 100 grams of solution



(Equation 1-2)
Vinegar is a dilute solution of acetic acid. The molecular formula for acetic acid is CH
3
COOH.
Both molarity and percent by mass of acetic acid in a vinegar solution can be
determine by performing a titration. A titration is a process in which small increments of a
solution of known concentration are added to a specific volume of a solution of unknown
concentration until the stoichiometry for that reaction is attained. Knowing the quantity of
the known solution required to complete the titration, calculation of the unknown solution
can be done. The purpose of titration is to determine the equivalence point of the reaction.
The equivalence point is reach when the added quantity of one reactant is the exact
amount necessary for stoichiometric reaction with another reactant.

OBJECTIVES
The objective of this experiment is to determine the molarity of a solution and the percent
by mass of acetic acid in vinegar by titration with the standardized sodium hydroxide
solution.


4

THEORY
In the titration process, a burette is used to dispense a small, quantifiable increment of
solution of known concentration (Figure 1.1). A typical burette has the smallest calibration
unit of 0.1mL (Figure 1.2), therefore, volume dispense from the burette should be
estimated to the nearest 0.01mL.

In this experiment, the equivalence point occurs when the moles of acid in the solution
equals to the moles of base added in the titration. For example, the stoichiometric amount
of 1 mole of the strong base, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), is necessary to neutralize 1 mole of
the weak acid, acetic acid (CH
3
CO
2
H), as indicated in equation 3.
NaOH (aq) + CH
3
CO
2
H (aq) NaCH
3
CO
2
(aq) + H
2
O (l) (Equation 1-3)
The sudden change in the pH of the solution shows that the titration has reached the
equivalence point. pH in an aqueous solution is related to its hydrogen ion concentration.
Symbolically, the hydrogen ion concentration is written as [H
3
O
+
]. pH is defined as the
negative of the logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration.
pH = - log [H
3
O
+
] (Equation 1-4)
pH scale is a method of expressing the acidity or basicity of a solution. Solutions having a
pH< 7 are acidic, pH = 7 are neutral, pH > 7 are basic. For example, a solution having
[H
3
O
+
]=2.35 x 10
-2
M would have a pH of 1.629 and is acidic. pH electrode will be used in this
5

experiment. The titration is initiated by inserting a pH electrode into a beaker containing
the acid solution (pH within 3-5). As sodium hydroxide, NaOH, is incrementally added to the
acid solution, some of the hydrogen ions will be neutralized. As the hydrogen ion
concentration decreases, the pH of the solution will gradually increase. When sufficient
NaOH is added to completely neutralize the acid (most of the H
3
O
+
ions are removed from
the solution), the next drop of NaOH added will cause a sudden sharp increase in pH (figure
2-2). The volume of based required to completely neutralized the acid is determine at the
equivalence point of titration.

In this experiment, titration of vinegar sample with a standardized sodium hydroxide
solution will be done. To standardize the sodium hydroxide solution, of a primary standard
acid solution is initially prepared. In general, primary standard solutions are produce by
dissolving a weighed quantity of pure acid or base in a known volume of solution. Primary
standard acid or bases have several common characteristics:
they must be available in at least 99.9 purity
they must have a high molar mass to minimize error in weighing
6

they must be stable upon heating
they must be soluble in the solvent of interest
Potassium hydrogen phthalate KHC
8
H
4
O
4
, and oxalic acid, (COOH)
2
, are common
primary standard acid. Sodium carbonate, Na
2
CO
3,
is the most commonly used based. Most
acids and bases (e.g. HCl, CH
3
COOH
,
NaOH, and KOH) are most available as primary standard.
To standardize one of these acid or based solutions, titration of the solution with a primary
standard should be done. In this experiment, NaOH solution will be titrated with
potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP). The equation for this reaction will be:
KHC
8
H
4
O
4 (aq)
+NaOH
(aq)
KNaC
8
H
4
O
4 (aq)
+ H
2
O
(l)
(Equation 1-5)
Once the sodium hydroxide solution has been standardizes, it will be used to titrate
10.00mL aliquots of vinegar. The equation for the reaction of vinegar with NaOH is
CH
3
COOH (aq) + NaOH (aq) NaCH
3
COO (aq) + H
2
O (l) (Equation 1-6)
Knowing the standardized NaOH concentration and using equation 6, we can
determine the molarity and percent by mass of acetic acid in the vinegar solution.

APPARATUS
Apparatus: Beakers, 50 mL burette, pH meter, magnetic rod, stirrer, conical flask, spatula,
electronic balance, retort stand, burette clamp, analytical balance
Chemicals: Sodium hydroxide solid, potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP), vinegar

PROCEDURE
Standardization of sodium hydroxide solution
1. 250 mL of approximately 0.6 M sodium hydroxide solution was prepared from NaOH
solid. The calculation was checked by the laboratory instructor before prepared the
solution in a beaker. The calculation was recorded.
7

2. A 250 mL beaker was weighed and the mass was recorded to the nearest 0.001 g. 1.5
grams of KHP were added to the beaker. The mass of the beaker and KHP were
recorded to the nearest 0.001 g. The mass of KHP was calculated by difference and
the data was recorded. 30 mL of distilled water was added to the beaker and the
solution was stirred until the KHP had dissolved completely.
3. The solution was titrated with NaOH and the pH with 1 mL additions of NaOH
solution was recorded.
4. Steps 1 to 3 were repeated to perform a second and third trial to standardize the
NaOH solution.
5. A graph of pH versus volume of NaOH was plotted. The volume of NaOH required to
neutralize the KHP solution in each titration were determined from the plotted
graph.
6. The molarity of sodium hydroxide for titration 1 and 2 has been calculated.
7. The average molarity of sodium hydroxide solution for titration 1 and 2 were
calculated. The sodium hydroxide solution concentration obtained is used in part B of
the experiment.

Molarity of acetic acid and percent of vinegar
1. 10.0 mL of vinegar was transferred to a clean, dry 250 mL beaker using a 10 mL
volumetric pipette. Sufficient water was added to cover the electrode tip during the
titration.
2. 1 mL of NaOH was added to the vinegar solution and the pH was recorded.
3. The steps above were repeated for second time.
4. The graph of pH vs volume NaOH added was plotted. The volume of NaOH required
to neutralize vinegar in each titration was determined by the plotted graph and the
data was recorded.
5. The molarity of acetic acid in vinegar for titration 1 and 2 were calculated.
6. The average molarity of acetic acid was calculated for each titration.
7. The percent by mass of acetic acid in vinegar for titration 1 and 2 were calculated.
8. The percent by mass of acetic acid in vinegar has been calculated.

8

RESULTS
Experiment 1: Standardization of sodium hydroxide solution
Titration 1 Titration 2
Mass of beaker (g) 148.0920 148.5445
Mass of beaker + KHP (g) 150.4124 150.0447
Mass of KHP (g) 1.5032 1.5002

Volume of NaOH to
neutralize the KHP solution
(mL)
Titration 1
(pH)
Titration 2
(pH)
0 3.99 3.76
1 3.80 3.88
2 3.97 4.08
3 4.18 4.22
4 4.33 4.36
5 4.48 4.48
6 4.61 4.61
7 4.58 4.76
8 4.74 4.90
9 4.92 5.05
10 5.17 5.24
11 5.56 5.50
12 6.74 6.02
13 12.29 11.84
14 12.41 12.28
15 12.57 12.46



9

TITRATION 1

Figure 1-1: titration curve of KHP with NaOH. The volume of NaOH used at the equivalence
point is 12.45 mL of NaOH.
TITRATION 2

Figure 1-2: titration curve of KHP with NaOH. The volume of NaOH used at the equivalence
point is 12.40 mL of NaOH.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
p
H

mL NaOH
KHP tritated with NaOH
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
p
H

mL NaOH
KHP titrated with NaOH
Equivalence
point
Equivalence
point
10

Experiment 2: Molarity of acetic acid and percent of vinegar
Volume of NaOH required to
neutralize vinegar
Titration 1
(pH)
Titration 2
(pH)
0 2.24 2.30
2 3.01 3.02
4 3.34 3.39
6 3.58 3.61
8 3.77 3.79
10 3.92 3.94
12 4.05 4.08
14 4.19 4.20
16 4.31 4.32
18 4.44 4.45
20 4.58 4.59
22 4.74 4.75
24 4.93 4.93
26 5.17 5.17
28 5.62 5.58
30 11.04 10.74
32 11.87 11.81
34 12.11 12.10
36 12.27 12.26
38 12.38 12.37
40 12.46 12.45





11

TITRATION 1

Figure 2-1: titration curve of acetic acid with NaOH. The volume of NaOH used at the
equivalence point is 28.8 mL of NaOH.

TITRATION 2

Figure 2-2: titration curve of acetic acid with NaOH. The volume of NaOH used at the
equivalence point is 28.6 mL of NaOH.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
p
H

mL NaOH
Acetic acid titrated with NaOH
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
Acetic acid titrated with NaOH
Equivalence
point
Equivalence
point
12

SAMPLE CALCULATION
Preparing 150 mL of approximately 0.6 M sodium hydroxide solution.
Molecular weight of NaOH = 40 g/mol NaOH
No. of moles NaOH = 0.6

NaOH X 0.25 L
= 0.15 mol NaOH
Mass of NaOH = 0.15 mol X 40 g/mol
= 6 g
EXPERIMENT 1: Standardization of Sodium Hydroxide Solution
The molarity of sodium hydroxide for each titration 1 and 2.
1)For titration 1:
The moles of KHP used in the titration:

The moles of NaOH required neutralizing the moles of KHP:





The molarity of NaOH:






13




=


=



=

2)For titration 2:
The moles of KHP used in the titration:

The moles of NaOH required neutralizing the moles of KHP:





The molarity of NaOH:








=


=



=

The average of molarity of sodium hydroxide
Average molarity of NaOH =

= 0.5919 M NaOH
14

EXPERIMENT 2: Molarity of acetic acid and percent of vinegar
The molarity of acetic acid in vinegar for titration 1 and 2.
1)For titration 1:
The moles of NaOH that reacted:










The moles of CH
3
COOH neutralized by the moles of NaOH:

The molarity of the CH
3
COOH solution:

Mass of acetic acid in the solution:

15

Mass of the acetic acid solution:

Percent by mass of acetic acid in the solution:

= 10.24%

2)For titration 2:
The moles of NaOH that reacted:










The moles of CH
3
COOH neutralized by the moles of NaOH:

16

The molarity of the CH
3
COOH solution:

Mass of acetic acid in the solution:

Mass of the acetic acid solution:

Percent by mass of acetic acid in the solution:

= 10.17%

17

The average percent by mass of acetic acid in vinegar.

= 10.21%

DISCUSSIONS
This experiment is to determine the molarity of a solution and the percent by mass of
acetic acid in vinegar by titration with the standardized sodium hydroxide solution. First, 250
mL of 0.6M sodium hydroxide solution, NaOH has been prepared in a beaker and about 1.5
grams of KHP was weighed and KHP solution was prepared. For the first experiment, the KHP
prepared was titrated with NaOH and the titration process was done twice, to get an
accurate results. The data were recorded and the molarity of the NaOH solution was
calculated. The molarity of NaOH for the first titration is 0.5912 M and for the second
titration is 0.5925 M.
The second experiment is to find the molarity and the percentage by mass of acetic
acid in vinegar. 10 mL of vinegar is added in a beaker and sufficient water was added into it.
Then, the solution was titrated with NaOH solution. All the data were recorded in a table and
to get an accurate result, the titration was done twice. The molarity and the percent by mass
of acetic acid in vinegar for first titration are 1.705 M and 10.24%, respectively. As for the
second titration, the molarity and the percent by mass of acetic acid in vinegar are 1.693 M
and 10.17%, respectively.
The results show that, there are no huge difference between the data obtained for
the first and the second titration for each experiment. However, there are several errors that
can be avoided to get a more accurate result. The beakers should be clean and dry before
using it to avoid any contamination that could affected the solution. Other than that, the
position of the eyes must be parallel with the meniscus of the solution level while taking a
18

reading to avoid parallax error. Besides, to get more accurate result, this experiment should
be done 3 times.

CONCLUSION
The objective of this experiment is to determine the molarity of a solution and the
percent by mass of acetic acid in vinegar by titration with the standardized sodium hydroxide
solution. The results showed that, the average molarity of sodium hydroxide and the
average percent by mass of acetic acid in vinegar is 0.5919 M and 10.21%, respectively. Thus,
the objectives of this experiment have been achieved.

RECOMMENDATIONS
To improve the efficiency of this experiment, there are several recommendations should be
taken. First, make sure the position of eyes of an observer is parallel to the meniscus of
water level on the burette while taking the reading to avoid parallax error. Second, the
apparatus should be in clean state so that it cannot affect the solution that had to be
prepared. Third, the titration process should be done for a several times to get an accurate
result. Fourth, make sure that the magnetic bar is stirred well in the solution before taking
any pH reading to avoid errors.

REFERENCES
Lab manual of Engineering Chemistry Laboratory (CHE 485) UiTM Shah Alam.