Acid-Base Titration (Determination of Ka and Pka)

2/2/11

Purpose: To calculate the Ka and pKa of potassium hydrogen

phthalate.

Procedure: Measure about 0.4 grams of KHP into water and using a
buret measure out 1mL at a time of NaOH and graph the pH.

Calculations: See graph for calculations.

Conclusion: We came to the conclusion that the equivalence point is

about a pH of 9 and the half way point is about 5.6 giving us a percent
error of 3.7%.

Discussion of Theory: The equivalence point, which is when the acid

and base are stoichiometrically equilvalent. . The equivalence
point in the lab was found to be about a pH of 9. Titration is the
measured amount of a solution of unknown concentration is
added to a known volume of a second solution until the reaction
between them has reached equivalence point. We titrated
together KHP and NaOH. An acid is a compound that we
combined with another substance and loses a hydrogen ion. A
base is a compound that gains a hydrogen ion when combined
with another substance

Sources of Error: A problem we could have is when we are stirring the

solution with a magnetic rod the solution could splash out giving
us a larger percent error.

Sources:

www.chemguide.co.uk/physical/acidbaseeqia/phcurves.html
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=acid
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=base