COURSE NAME

: PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY

COURSE CODE

: CHM 270

TITLE

: pH Determination of Acid , Base and Buffer

solution

NUMBER OF
EXPERIMENT
STUDENTS
NAME

:1

: QODARIYAH HUSNA BT CHAIRUL AMRI

PARDEDE

STUDENTS
ID NUMBER

: 20142227008

LECTURERS
NAME

: MISS NUR AZREEN BT AHMAD PUAD

DATE OF
PERFORMED
EXPERIMENT

: 27 JANUARY 2015

DATE OF
REPORT
SUBMISSION

: 02 FEBRUARY 2015

GROUP

: A4AS120226

OBJECTIVE:

To measure the pH of solution using universal indicator or pH paper .

INTRODUCTION:

Acid defined a substance that yields hydrogen ions H when dissolved in water .

Base defined a substance that yields hydroxide ions O H

when dissolved in

water . Then , buffer solution defined as a solution of a weak acid or base and its salt ;
both components must be present . The solution has the ability to resist changes in pH
upon the addition of small amounts of either acid or base . The pH of a solution is
defined as the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration (in mol/L) .
The easiest way to determine whether a substance is an acidic or a base is by
using and indicator , an organic molecule that changes colour when dipped in an acid
or a base In order to determine the pH of the solution , a universal indicator could be
used in which the solution containing the indicator would give a coloured solution that
depends on the concentration of

+
H ion present in the solution . The pH of the

solution could then be determined by comparing the colour of the solution with the
colour of the solution with the colour on the pH chart .

APPARATUS:

Test tubes , measuring cylinders of 10 mL and 100 mL .

CHEMICALS:

a2

0.1 M NaOH , 0.05 M N

OH , 0.1 M AlC
H3

l3

O3

, 0.1 M HN

O3

, 0.1 M HCl , 0.1 M N

, 0.1 M C

H3

H4

Cl . 0.1 M N

H4

COOH , 0.1 M NaCl , 0.1 M C

COONa , universal indicator or pH paper .

PROCEDURE:

Part I : pH Determination of Solutions

1. 5 mL each of the solution was measured and placed them in a test tube . Two
drops of universal indicator to each solution was been added and shaked well
or dipped the solution with a pH paper .
Distilled water
Tap water
0.1 M NaOH
a2

0.1 M N

H4

Cl

0.1 M N

H4

OH

0.05 M N

O3

0.1 M HCl

0.1 M AlC

l3

0.1 M HN

O3

0.1 M C

H3

COOH

0.1 M NaCl
0.1 M C

H3

COONa

2. The pH paper of each solution tested had been determined by comparing their
colours with the pH colour chart that had been given by the label on the bottle .
As for the pH paper, compare the colour paper with the pH colour chart on the
box that had been labelled .
3. The observation had been recorded in table 1.1 .

Part II : pH Determination of Buffer Solutions

1. 25 mL of 0.1 M ethanoic acid , C

solution of sodium acetate , C

H3

H3

COOH was added with 25 mL 0.1 M

COONa in a beaker . Then three drops of

universal indicator had been added and the beaker shook well . The colour of
the solution and the pH of the buffer solution were recorded .
2. The buffer solution had been divided into two equal portion :
To one of the portion :
a) 1 mL 0.1 M HCl was added . The pH using the universal indicator
had been recorded .
b) Another 4 mL 0.1 M HCl was added . The pH using the universal
indicator had been recorded .
To the second portion :
a) 1 mL 0.1 M NaOH was added . The pH using the universal indicator
had been recorded .
b) Another 4 mL 0.1 M NaOH was added . The pH using the universal
indicator had been recorded .
3. The observation had been recorded in table 1.2 .

DATA:

Table 1.1 : The Colour and the pH of Solutions

Solutions
Distilled water
Tap water
0.1 M NaOH
a2

0.05 M N

Colour of solution / pH paper

Colourless
Colourless
Purple
Purple

pH
7
6
11
13

OH

purple

Colourless
Colourless

1
1

Colourless

Colourless
Colourless

6
7

Colourless

Colourless

O3
H4

0.1 M N

0.1 M HCl
O3

0.1 M HN
0.1 M C

H3

COOH
0.1 M NaCl
0.1 M C

H3

COONa
0.1 M N

H4

0.1 M AlC

Cl

l3

Table 1.2 : The Colour and the pH of Buffer Solutions

Solutions

Colour of solution / pH paper

pH

25 mL 0.1 M C

H3

COOH +

25 mL 0.1 M C

H3

COONa

+ 3 drops of universal indicator

After addition of 1 mL 0.1 M
HCl
After addition of 4 mL 0.1 M
HCl
After addition of 1 mL 0.1 M
NaOH
After addition of 4 mL 0.1 M
NaOH

No change

No change

No change

4.5

No change

No change

QUESTION:

1. State whether the following solutions is acidic , basic or neutral and explain
your answer .
a) 0.05 M N

a2

O3

The solution of 0.05 M N

a2

O3

is basic solution because after 2 drops of

a universal indicator was dropped into this solution , the colour of the solution
turned out no blue colour which was indicated as pH 9 . The common pH for
basic solution is higher than pH 7 .
b) 0.1 M C

H3

COONa

The solution of 0.1 M C

H3

COONa is neutral because after 2 drops of

universal indicator was dropped in this solution to be tested the colour of

solution turned out to green colour which was indicated as pH 7 . The fixed pH
for neutral solution is pH 7 .

c) 0.1 M AlC

l3

The solution of 0.1 M AlC

l3

is acidic solution because after 2 drops a

universal indicator was dropped in this solution to be tested the colour of

solution turned out to orange colour which was indicated as pH 5 . The
common pH for acidic solution is lower than pH 7 .
2. Explain your observation in procedure ( part II ) in terms of the effect of
addition of a strong acid and a strong base to the buffer solution .
A buffer solution is an aqueous solution consisting of a mixture of a weak acid
and its conjugate base or a weak base and its conjugate acid . It has property
that the pH of the solution changes very little when a small amount of a strong
base or acid was added to it . Buffer solution is used as a means of keeping pH
at a nearly constant value in a wide variety of chemical applications .

DISCUSSION:

As we expected the colour changes of the solutions in order to determine the pH of the
solutions by using the universal indicator . After we measured the pH of each of the
solution , the pH value for acidic solution is 6 and below this indicated that tap water ,
0.1 M HCl , 0.1 M HN
and 0.1 M AlC

l3

O3

, 0.1 M C

H3

COOH , 0.1 M NaCl , 0.1 M N

H4

Cl

as acidic solution . While the pH value for basic solution is 8 and

above which was shown as the result for the 0.1 M NaOH and 0.05 M N

a2

O3

Besides the solutions that came out for the neutral solution was distilled water , 0.1 M
N

H4

OH and 0.1 M C

H3

COONa which remain pH 7 as its result . The buffer

solution that we used in this experiment did not make a lot of changes for the pH of
the solutions , because it is used to keep pH at a nearly constant value .
From this experiment the weakness of the universal indicator can be obtained
because in order to get more accurate pH of the solution , the exact pH pH of the
solution cannot be measured using the pH indicator it is better use pH meter as well .

CONCLUSION:

To measure the acid-basic degree of a substance, we can use pH papers like litmus
paper, indicators like phenolphthalein, and electronic pH meters . As the result from
this experiment that had be done above , it conclude that universal indicator are
beneficial in determining the pH of the solution in order to differentiate between
acidic , base and buffer solutions .

REFERENCES:

1) Laboratory Manual Understanding Physical Chemistry

2) Chemistry , Eleventh Edition , Raymond Chang & Kenneth A. Goldsby
3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_(chemistry)