Theory

The quantitative measure of the position of the equilibrium is called the equilibrium constant.
For an acid dissociation, the equilibrium constant is called the acid dissociation constant, or
Ka. It is defined as follows:
Chemical Equation: HA H+(aq) + A-(aq)
Equilibrium Expression: Ka = [ H+ ][ A- ] / [ HA ]
In the equilibrium expression, the use of square brackets indicates the concentration of the
chemical entity inside the brackets, expressed in moles per liter (or millimoles per milliliter),
and symbolized as M. So [ H+ ] means "concentration of H+ in moles per liter." In the case of
a weak acid, the actual value of Ka is a small number, indicating that only a small fraction of
the acid is dissociated into ions at any given time. Concentrations of HA and A- in the
resulting half-neutralized solution will be
equal: [ HA ] = [ A- ]. Let us call this concentration X, so that
[ HA ] = [ A- ] = X.
Then, going back to the definition of Ka,
Ka = [ H+ ] [ A-] / [HA] = [ H+ ] X / X = [ H+ ].
This result shows that the Ka is equal to [ H+ ], the hydrogen ion concentration, in a solution
where the concentrations of un-ionized acid, HA, and acid anion, A-, are equal. Also, pH =
pKa.
Two method used to determine the Ka value of a weak acid :

titrating the weak acid with sodium hydroxide.

measuring the pH of the weak acid solution.

1) TITRATING WEAK ACID WITH SODIUM HYDROXIDE

To determine the Ka of an acid, all we need to do is to titrate the acid with NaOH
solution, and to carefully record the pH as a function of volume of base added. We can plot
the resulting data in the form of a graph, called a titration curve. When we reach the point of
equivalence and the pH rises sharply, we know that the number of moles of base added equals
the number of moles of acid originally present. If we look back at the titration curve to the
point where we have added exactly half as much base as was required for complete
neutralization, then the [ H+ ] at that point equals the Ka, and the pH at that point equals.In
order to determine the pH at half-neutralization for an unknown acid, we will measure the pH
with a pH meter after each addition of base, and create a "Titration Curve" which resembles
the one in the figure below.

With information obtained from your titration curve, you will be able to calculate the
molecular weight and the pKa of the unknown. This should allow you to identify the
unknown, and to calculate a theoretical titration curve which you can match to your
experimental result.

The dissociation of a weak acid (represented by HA) in water can be described by

Where H+ represents the acidic proton and A- represents the conjugate base of the weak acid.
The equilibrium constant for the dissociation is given by Ka which can be expressed as

This equation can be rearranged in terms of [H+]

At a volume of titrate equal to half that required to completely neutralize the weak acid
present, the remaining concentration of HA will be equal to that of A - formed during the
neutralization reaction.
[HA] = [A-] and [H+] = Ka
By converting [H+] to pH, a useful relationship between the pH at the midpoint of the
titration and the pKa is obtained
pH = -log [H+] = -log Ka
It is important to realize that if the base [A ] concentration is equal to the acid [HA]
concentration then pH = pKa. This equation tells us that we can determine the pKa or Ka of
an acid by finding the pH when half way to the endpoint of the titration.
2) MEASURING THE PH OF THE WEAK ACID

From the pH of the acid solution ( HA ) we can determine H + and A- ion concentration is
relared to the pH of solution. By substituting, [ HA ], [ H 3O+] and [ A -], value Ka can be
calculated. In this experiment we only use titration method.

Discussion

An acid-base titration is a method in chemistry that allows quantitative analysis of the

concentration of an unknown acid or base solution. It makes use of the neutralization reaction
that occurs between acids and bases, and that we know how acids and bases will react if we
know their formula. In this lab, we determine the identity of the unknown weak acid by
titrated the unknown weak acid with 0.1 M NaOH solution. And we take the pH reading for
each 1.0 mL of the 0.1M NaOH solution add, until the the unknown solution pH reading is
around 12. And from the data, we construct the titration curve, and from the titration curve we
can determine the equivalence point and then we also can determine the Ka value by using the
two method. The first method is by determine the Ka value from the titration curve. We find
the equivalence point, and the center region of the equivalence point is divided by 2, and then
we read the pH value for that half equivalence point. As we know, equivalence point at the
titration curve is read at the center of the region where pH increase sharply. For the first
method we using the formula :
pKa = -log Ka
pKa = pH
Ka = 10 pKa
In the first titration, the initial pH value is 5.09 and after 5mL NaOH added the pH value is
12.79. The equivalence point form the graph is 2.5mL, half equivalence point is 1.25mL and
the pH value corresponding to half equivalence is 6.4. The Ka calculated for titration 1 is 1.58
x 10-12. Meanwhile, in titration 2 initial pH value is 5.10 and after 5mL NaOH added the pH
value is 12.80. The equivalence point from the graph is 2.6mL, half equivalence point is
1.3mL and the pH value corresponding to half equivalence is 6.5. The Ka for the titration 2 is
9.98 x 10-13. From the two calculated Ka value for both titration trial, the average value of Ka
is 1.29 x 10-12 which value is near to the Ka value of Ascorbic (II) acid.