QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SODA ASH BY DOUBLEINDICATOR TITRATION

L. J. T. CHENG1,N. QUEJANO2
1
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
2
DEPARTMENT OF MINING, METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF
ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILIMAN, QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES
DATE PERFORMED: AUGUST 23, 2016
INSTRUCTORS NAME: ACERO, R. E.

___________________________________________________________________________
1. Why is there a need to boil
the distilled water in the
preparation of base
solutions?

The reason why distilled water is

boiled in the preparation of basic
solutions is that boiling gets rid of
dissolved CO2. The dissolved CO2
forms small amounts of H2CO3 which
may alter the pH of the basic
solution.1
2. Why is the mixture of NaOH
and NaHCO3 incompatible?
The mixture is incompatible
because the hydroxide in NaOH will
react to HCO3- forming CO32-. With
that reaction, there can only be
NaOH and Na2CO3 or NaHCO3 and
NaOH in the soda ash sample.3
3. Why is there a need to boil
the solution before reaching
the methyl orange endpoint?
Boiling removes some H2CO3 and
the carbon dioxide trapped in the
solution. Removing those removes
the buffer created from the first
titration which results in a sharper
endpoint.3
4. Discuss the basic components
of the unknown soda ash
sample based on the volume

relationship at the
phenolphthalein and methyl
orange endpoint.

Based on our results, there is

more volume of titrant used to the
methyl orange endpoint than in the
phenolphthalein endpoint. This
shows that there is HCO3- in the
sample aside from the converted
CO32-. Because of this, the sample is
composed of NaHCO3 and Na2CO3.3
5. Is it possible to use NaOH as
the primary standard for HCl.
It is not possible to use NaOH
as primary standard for HCl
because it reacts with CO2 in the
atmosphere which may affect its
composition.1
6. Discuss the properties of an
ideal primary standard.
The properties of an ideal
primary standard are as follows:
a.) High purity - It should be
available in a highly pure form
and it should preserve in the
pure state.
b.) Stable The substance should
be unaltered in air during
weighing.
c.) High molecular weight It
should have high molecular

weight so that the weighing

errors may be negligible.
d.) Soluble It must be readily
soluble in a solvent.3
7. Explain the rationale behind
not storing basic solutions in
volumetric glasswares.
It is because the OH- from the
basic solution slowly reacts with
the silicon in the glasswares,
reducing concentration of OH- and
making the volumetric glassware
less accurate.1
8. Discuss the possible sources
of errors and their effect on
calculated parameters.
The possible sources of error
include recording the wrong
amount of soda ash sample which
results in higher percent value if
the recorded amount is lower
than the actual and vice versa.
Overtitration is also a possible
source of error which increases
the calculated moles of analyte(if
overtitration happened on the
experiment proper) or decreases
the calculated moles of analyte(if

it happened during
standardization).3
9. Discuss the cause of
carbonate error and its effect
on the calculated values
obtained in standardization
and sample analysis.
Carbonate error happens when a
basic solution reacts with carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere to form
bicarbonate,
therefore
when
titrating, less OH- is present in the
NaOH being standardized, resulting
in more volume of NaOH used which
in turn results in less concentration
calculated.3
References
[1] Skoog, D.; West D.; Holler, F.;
Crouch,
S. Fundamentals
of
Analytical Chemistry (9th ed.); 2014.
[2]Analytical Chemistry Laboratory
Manual, 2016 Edition; University of
the Philippines Diliman: Philippines,
2016
[3]
Hodgeman,
Charles.
(1961). Handbook of Chemistry and
Physics (44th ed.); Cleveland, USA:
Chemical Rubber Publishing co.

Calculations:
1.) 0.1034g(

1 mol Na 2CO 3
1 mol HCl
1
1000 mL
)(
)(
)(
)=
105.99 g
1 mol Na 2CO 3
25.5 mL
1L

0.0383 M HCl
2.) 0.3336g(

1 mol Na 2CO 3
1 mol HCl
1
1000 mL
)( 1 mol Na 2CO 3 )( 80.0 mL )(
)=
105.99 g
1L

0.0393 M HCl
3.) 0.1016g(

1 mol Na 2CO 3
1 mol HCl
1
1000 mL
)(
)(
)(
)=
105.99 g
1 mol Na 2CO 3
24.4 mL
1L

0.0393 M HCl
% Composition
1.)

1L
0.0390mol HCl
1 mol Na 2CO 3
24.5mL( 1000 mL )(
)(
1L
1 mol HCl

)=9.555x10-4 mol Na2CO3

105.99 g
9.555x10 mol Na2CO3 ( 1mol
)= 0.101 g Na2CO3
-4

1
0.101 g ( 0.0996 g )x100%=101.7%(whyyy)
1L
0.0390mol HCl
1 molNaHCO 3
25.4mL( 1000 mL )(
)(
)=9.906x10-4 mol
1L
1mol HCl
NaHCO3(including the converted CO3)
9.906 x10-4 mol NaHCO3 - 9.555x10-4 mol NaHCO3 = 3.56x10-5 mol NaHCO3
3.56x10-5 mol NaHCO3(

2.)

84.007 g
1 mol )= 0.00299 gNaHCO3

1L
0.0390mol HCl
1 mol Na 2CO 3
23.9mL( 1000 mL )(
)(
1L
1 mol HCl

)=9.321x10-4 mol Na2CO3

9.321x10-4 mol Na2CO3 (

105.99 g
)= 0.0988 g Na2CO3
1mol

1
0.0988 g ( 0.0996 g )x100%=99.19%(whyyy)
1L
0.0390mol HCl
1 molNaHCO 3
26.0mL( 1000 mL )(
)(
)=1.014x10-3 mol
1L
1mol HCl
NaHCO3(including the converted CO3)
1.014 x10-3 mol NaHCO3 9.321x10-4 mol NaHCO3 = 8.19x10-5 mol
NaHCO3
84.007 g
8.19x10 mol NaHCO3( 1 mol )= 0.00688 gNaHCO3
-5

3.)

1L
0.0390mol HCl
1 mol Na 2CO 3
24.3 mL( 1000 mL )(
)(
)=
1L
1 mol HCl

9.477x10-4 mol Na2CO3

9.477x10-4 mol Na2CO3 (

105.99 g
)= 0.100g Na2CO3
1mol

1
0.100 g ( 0.0996 g )x100%= 100.85%(whyyy)
1L
0.0390mol HCl
1 molNaHCO 3
26.0mL( 1000 mL )(
)(
)=1.014x10-3 mol
1L
1mol HCl
NaHCO3(including the converted CO3)
1.014x10-3 mol NaHCO3 9.477x10-4 mol NaHCO3 = 6.93x10-5 mol NaHCO3
6.93 x10-5 mol NaHCO3(

84.007 g
1 mol )= 0.00582gNaHCO3

Error propagation:
Volume of HCl:

0.052+ 0.052

=0.07

Molarity of HCl: 0.383

.07 2 0.0002 2
) +(
) =0.001
25.5
0.1034

0.393

=0.001

0.0012+ 0.0012+ 0.0012

Average molarity:

=0.09

0.001
0.0390

Grams Na2CO3: 0.07 2

=.002
(
) +
24.5
0.101
0.001
0.0390

=.002
0.07 2
(
) +
24.5
0.0988

0.001
0.0390

=.002
0.07 2
(
) +
24.5
0. 100

0.0022+ 0.0022+ 0.0022

Average grams Na2CO3:

Grams NaHCO3:

0.001
0.0390

0.001
0.0390

0.00299
= 1x10-6
0.07 2
4
2
9.555 x 10
+( 2)
24.5
0.07 2
2
+( 2) +
25.4
9.906 x 104

( )

=0.003

.07 2 0.0002 2
) +(
)
25.5
0.1034

0.001
0.0390

0.001
0.0390

0.00688
= 1x10-6
0.07 2
4
2
9.321 x 10
+( 2)
23.9
0.07 2
+( 2)2+
26.0
1.104 x 103

( )

0.001
0.0390

0.001
0.0390

0.00582
= 1x10-6
0.07 2
4
2
9.477 x 10
+( 2)
24.3
0.07 2
+( 2)2+
26.0
1.1104 x 103

( )

Average grams NaHCO3:

3(1 x 106 )

= 2x10-3