SOLUBILITY EQUILIBRIUM OF CALCIUM HYDROXIDE

JUNE ROBERT ZAMORA

1INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY, COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
2DEPARTMENT OF MINING, METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF
ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILIMAN QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES
DATE PERFORMED: JUNE 24, 2017
INSTRUCTORS NAME: MAE CRISTE FAJICULAY

ABSTRACT
The experiment aimed to investigate the solubility equilibrium of Ca(OH). The molar
solubility (s), the solubilility product constant (Ksp) , the enthalpy change (H), and entropy change
(S) of the reaction was determined using titration with 0.1 M HCl . It is observed that there is a
direct relationship between Ksp and s. By linear regression of the plot based on vant Hoff equation,
we obtained the equation y=____________ and r = 0.0254 . The enthalpy and entropy changes (H
and S ) were then calculated which resulted in values ____ and ____ respectively . The said values
yielded a ___ and ___ error respectively when compared to their theoretical values at standard
temperature. The Ksp output of the experiment at 298K was _______ which resulted in ____ error
from the theoretical Ksp value of . Hence ,

through the titration of a saturated solution of Ca(OH). Al

The objective of the experiment was to determine the solubility product constant of the reaction forming calcium hydroxide
through the use of Titration. The preparation of calcium hydroxide was done by mixing calcium nitrate and sodium hydroxide. The
calcium hydroxide obtained was then mixed with eight different media, and then titrated with hydrochloric acid to determine their
equilibrium hydroxide concentration, which were then used to calculate the solubility product constant and the solubility of calcium
hydroxide. The ionic strength of seven of the eight solutions was then calculated and plotted versus the values of the solubility of
calcium hydroxide. A solubility product constant of 1.52x10 -5 was found. Compared to the literature value of 5.5x10-6, there was a
93.72% difference.

A direct relationship between Ksp and s was observed. By linear regression between the natural
logarithm of calculated Ksp and the inverse of the temperature, the equation y = -797.31x 9.5138
and r = 0.0254 were obtained. The changes in enthalpy and entropy were also calculated, having
values of and , and percent errors of 60.31% and 50.0%, respectively. The Ksp calculated at 298 K
was and comparing it to the theoretical Ksp which is , a 7.6 % error was obtained hence it is
concluded that the experiment was successful.

The solubility equilibrium of Ca(OH)2 was investigated. The molar solubility value, s, the solubility
product constant, Ksp, and accordingly the enthalpy and entropy changes of the reaction was
determined using titration. A direct relationship between Ksp and s was observed. By linear
regression between the natural logarithm of calculated Ksp and the inverse of the temperature, the
equation y = -797.31x 9.5138 and r = 0.0254 were obtained. The changes in enthalpy and
entropy were also calculated, having values of and , and percent errors of 60.31% and 50.0%,
respectively. The Ksp calculated at 298 K was and comparing it to the theoretical Ksp which is , a
7.6 % error was obtained hence it is concluded that the experiment was successful.

to determine the equilibrium constant, Keq , of the formation of FeSCN2+ through the use of
spectrophotometry and application of Beer-Lamberts law. Through spectrophotometry, unknown
substances can be identified and observed without actually touching them. Acidified [using HCl]
standard and unknown solutions of FeCl3 and KSCN were analyzed. The absorbance of the formed
[Fe(SCN)2+] from the said solution was measured using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The absorbance
and initial concentrations of FeCl3 and KSCN was then used to determine the equilibrium constant,
Keq ,of FeSCN2+ formation as well as its percent deviation from the standard literature value. The
experiment exhibited a 50.27% error from the theoretical Keq (890) of the reaction. From the said
error, it can be concluded that the experiment is not entirely accurate and thus failed in
determining the equilibrium constant for the formation of FeSCN2+ which may have arisen from
experimental inaccuracies. Therefore, it is advised to use higher purity reagents and careful,
proper use of spectrophotometer in order to yield a more ideal result.

INTRODUCTION
This study particularly uses a device called
spectrophotometer which measures the
Spectrophotometry is a method of determining
absorbance of a solution by quantifying the
concentration of a chemical substance by
light that passes through the solution placed in
quantifying its electromagnetic spectra
a specialized tube called cuvette [2]. This device
absorption ,specifically those radiations in the
has two main parts ; the spectrometer which
ultraviolet (UV, 200-380 nm), visible (VIS,
emits a specific wavelength of light and the
380-780 nm), and near infrared region [1].
photometer which measure the light intensity the best fit line to the said plot. The said
the sample has transmitted [2]. equation is:

where A = absorbance
In spectroscopy , it is important to understand m = slope of the line which is equal to
the Beer-Lamberts Law which directly relates the product of and b (see equation
the concentration of a colored substance in a 1)
solution to the amount of light it absorbs . The
x = solution concentration
said law is represented by the equation [3].
d = y-intercept/error

where A = absorbance
=molar The Keq of the reaction was then calculated
absorptivity (M-1 cm-1) using the unknown
A = mx + d (3)
solutions. Through
C = analyte Beer-Lamberts Law,
molar concentration the equilibrium concentration of [Fe(SCN)]2+
was obtained. Then, the equilibrium
concentrations of Fe3+ and SCN- was
This equation, however, is only applicable to obtained using equations derived from the
highly diluted solution, solutions with high ICE table:
purity reagents and that of constant
temperature [3].

In the experiment , varying amounts of

Fe3+ ions were reacted with a constant
amount of SCN- ions with the addition of HCl
to produce a blood red complex:

Using the absorbance of the complexes

measured in UV-Vis spectrophotometer, the
standard calibration where [ ]i = initial concentration of ion
curve of the complexes A=bC (1) /complex
was then calculated. inside
[Fe3+]eq = [Fe3+]i - (4)
The concentration of [ ]eq=
[Fe(SCN)2+]eq
the product concentration of
,[Fe(SCN)]2+ ,was [SCN-]eq = [SCN-]i - (5) ion/complex
calculated using the [Fe(SCN)2+]eq inside at
concentration of Fe3+ equilibrium conditions
(limiting reactant) since the reaction is just in
1:1 ratio.
Using the data obtained, the Keq for each
solution will be calculated using the
Furthermore , by plotting an A vs. expression:
[Fe(SCN)]2+eq graph and by applying linear
regression to it , we can get an equation of
 Keq = [FeSCN2+]eq (6) Figure 1: Flowchart of
the General Procedure
[Fe3+]eq[SCN-]eq
of the Experiment
where Keq= initial equilibrium constant
[ ]eq= concentration of ion/complex The following stock solutions were prepared:
inside at equilibrium conditions
100mL of 0.1M HCl solution from
concentrated HCl solution, 250mL of 0.1M
HCl solution from the 1.0M HCl solution,
The Keq reaction data is the average of all
50mL of 0.1M KSCN solution, 100mL of
calculated Keq . This value was then
0.002M KSCN (in 0.1M HCl), 50 mL of 0.2 M
compared to the
(7) FeCl3 solution, and
literature value to get
100 mL of 0.002 M
the percent error.
FeCl3(in 0.1M HCl).
We first calculated the mass required for
each reagent and used analytical balance for
This experiment was done to develop and measurement.
apply concepts of chemical equilibrium.
Specifically , to determine the equilibrium
constant, Keq , for the formation of
The stock solutions were then used in
[Fe(SCN)]2+ using the concept of
preparation for the standard solutions . Table
Beer-Lamberts Law through the use of
2 gives the volume of reagents needed for
UV-Vis spectrophotometer.
each standard solution.

METHODOLOGY

Preparation of Stock Solution

Preparation of Standard Solution

Preparation of Unkown Solution

The standard solutions were placed in 6 inch

test tubes covered with parafilm.
Determination of the Absorbance of
Solutions
The unknown solutions were then prepared
using also the stock solutions. Table 3 gives
the volume of reagents needed for each
Waste Disposal unknown solution.

Similarly ,the unknown solutions were placed
in 6 inch test tubes covered with parafilm.
The absorbance of each solutions were then
measured using UV-Vis Spectrophotometer
, ndicating that it was necessary to perform
autozero in the calibration. The cuvette used
has a path length of 1 cm. The wavelength of
the maximum Fe3+ + Cl- FeCl4-
absorbance was
pre-measured to be 466nm.
All solutions were disposed in Inorganic
Waste container except for the HCl solutions
which is disposed in Acid Waste container.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In the experiment , the A = 821.559x + 0.01072; R2= 0.989
primary reaction
observed is between Fe3+ and SCN-
producing FeSCN2+ complex, which is
supposed to be blood-red in color (see
equation (2)).
However, due to low concentrations of Fe3+
brought about by dilution , the complexes is
seen as varying from dark to light orange
according to Fe3+ concentration.
Also , the addition of HCl cause competing
reactions between Fe3+ and Cl- ions forming a
colorless FeCl4- complex ion.
Fe3+ containing solutions are generally
colored but due to the formation of the said
colorless complex , the absorbance reading in
this experiment corresponds only to the
absorption of FeSCN2+ complex [2].
The recorded absorbance of each standard
solutions used in calibration was then used in
plotting the A(absorbance) vs. [Fe(SCN)2+]eq
graph.
(8)
Figure 2: Calibration Curve
Using linear regression, the equation of the
trend line was found to be:
The R2 value is almost equal to 1 which
suggest that it follows
(9) a linear behavior.
Minimal errors in this
part shown as the y-intercept may have been
due to touching the cuvettes clear part which
may have contaminated the area and cause
some light to reflect back during absorbance
measurement which can lead to larger
absorbance value.

Table 4 shows the absorbance and
equilibrium concentration of [Fe(SCN)]2+eq in
each unknown solution.
There is no need to correct the absorbance
recorded since the blank solution has been
set as zero during the machine calibration.
Keq value of the three solution was then
solved using equation (6). It was then
averaged to get the computed Keq value of the
experiment.
The calculated average Keq was 442.632. It
was compared to the literature value of 890
to get the percent error of 50.27%. The
percent error of the equilibrium can be
attributed to the following: (1) touching or
contaminants in the clear side of the cuvette;
(2) inconsistent ambient temperature; (3)
wrong preparation of stock solutions; (4)
impurity of the reagents used; (5) poor
pipetting technique; and (6) presence of
stray light.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
The spectrophotometric determination of the
equilibrium constant, Keq , of the formation
of the [Fe(SCN)]2+ion was done using a
UV-Vis spectrophotometer and by
application of the Beer-Lamberts Law.
By plotting and using linear regression, the
standard calibration curve of the solution
was then obtained to be A = 821.559x +
0.01072 with a R2 of 0.989. The R2 value being
close to 1 shows that the calibration is valid.
The resulting experimental value of Keq
obtained was 442.623 which has a 50.27%
error from the theoretical value of 890.Thus,
the experiment failed in the determination of
Keq of the reaction.
This experiment can be improved by: (1)
using high purity reagents; (2) careful
preparation of stock solutions; (3) proper
and careful use of UV-Vis spectrophotometer
especially in handling the cuvette ; (4) using
highly diluted solutions; and (5) careful lab
and pipetting technique.
REFERENCES
[1] Marczenko, Z., Balcerzak, M. Separation,
Preconcentration and
Spectrophotometry in Inorganic
Analysis, Elsevier, Amsterdam. 2000
[2] Rice University; Principles of
Spectrophotometry; 2012; Retrieved
from:
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/met
hods/protein/spectrophotometer.htmlla
st January 20, 2013.
[3] Bettelheim, F. A. et. Al.; Laboratory
Experiments for General, Organic and
Biochemistry; 8thed.; Thomson
Brooks/Cole: Belmont, CA, 2007.
[4] www.collin.edu/chemistry/Handouts/1
412/Equilibrium%20%Jn%202017.pdf