Post-Lab

1) What is a titrant? What is an analyte?

The solution with an unknown concentration is known as the analyte. The
titrant is the chemical added to the analyte in order to reach an equivalency
point and determine the concentration of the analyte.
2) In this lab, did a substance serve as both a titrant and an analyte? If so,
what was this substance? Support your answer.
Yes, the potassium permanganate did serve as a titrant as well as an analyte.
The reason for this is that if the concentration of the potassium
permanganate was determined with a high level of accuracy in the titration
then it could be utilized in another titration as a titrant.
3) What might have been the product(s) in the original solution if it had
remained neutral (the solution was not acidified with H2SO4)? How could you
determine this?
The two products would be Fe3+ and MnO2 if the original solution had
remained neutral. In neutral conditions, there would not be any hydrogen
plus or hydroxide ions to start off with and the manganese dioxide would
break down to a solid brown state.
4) What might have been the product(s) in the original solution if it was
alkaline? How could you determine this?
Under alkaline conditions, the products would be the same as they would be
under neutral conditions. The manganate would first be reduced to dark
green ions before turning into a dark brown solid oxide like in neutral
conditions along with the iron ions.
5) How would the concentrations of the KMnO4 and the H2O2 solutions have
been affected if the following observations were made about the Erlenmeyer
flask? Justify your answers.
a) When the titration was completed, the flask was colorless.
If the flask were colorless, the concentration would have been too low
because the endpoint of the reaction or the equivalency point would not
have been reached. The titrant would not have consumed all of the analyte.
b) When the titration was completed, the flask was dark red or purple.
If the flask turned dark red or purple, this would indicate that the
concentration was too high and the equivalency point had been surpassed.
Thus, calculations would register a greater amount of the analyte then the
actual amount present.