Studying the pH of Strong Acid, Weak Acid, Salt, and Buffer Solutions

In this lab, the purpose was to determine the stability of a substance after adding an acid or a base. The results claim that liver and buffer are the most resistance to change in pH. Looking at figure 3, buffer and liver both maintain a stable pH even with the addition of an acid or base. However, potato and water have less buffer in them since their pHs did change. In figure 3, the potato acid’s pH level decreased by two, and the potato base’s pH level increased by two. The level of pH of a water acid decreased by 4, while the water base’s pH increased by 5. These results all tie to the fact that buffer is a substance that maintains a stable pH; the presence of buffer in organisms help maintain homeostasis by binding or releasing hydrogen

1. To titrate a hydrochloric acid solution of “unknown” concentration with standardized 0.5M sodium hydroxide.

Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this experiment is to use both cabbage juice and pH paper to determine the pH of household items. This way, we can tell which products are basic and which one are acidic. If we use cabbage juice as an universal pH indicator by comparing it to pH paper then pH determined by the cabbage juice will be unstable because by using cabbage juice, it can be different depending on how diluted it is.

In 2 and 7 I added 50 mL of .1 M NaCl. I added sodium acetate to the rest of the beakers: 1 gram to 3 and 8, 5 grams to 4 and 9, and 10 grams to 5 and 10. I then filled the beakers that contained the solid sodium acetate with 50 ml of .10 M acetic acid. Specifics can be found on page 84 of the lab manual. Though the lab manual instructed to use a pipet, we did not have an accurate 1 mL pipet or a graduated pipet, so we instead prepared two graduated burets with 1 M Sodium Hydroxide and 1 M hydrochloric acid. Using a standardized pH probe with a Lab Pro to measure changes in pH, we added 1 mL of HCl at a time and recorded the changes. The same was done for the NaOH.

weak bases). After ranking the pH of these solutions, you will then test your predictions in the laboratory.

To start out this study the difference between acids and bases has to be identified. Acids have very low pHs and have a high concentration of hydronium ions, while bases have a high pH and have a high concentration of hydroxide ions. The difference between strong bases and acids, and weak bases and acids is the amount of dissociation. Strong bases and acids dissociate a large amount and let go of their ions in solution, while weak bases and acids may only let go of some of their ions. This is important because if the unknown solutions aren’t strong acids or bases then using their ions to calculate the pH of the solutions will give false results (Diffen 2012).

To improve the results from the experiment buffer solutions that were not whole pHs could have been used e.g. pH 4.5, 5.5 etc. This would have provided more reliable results as a wider range of results would have been produced. Using pHs with decimals would also help to more accurately determine the optimum pH as the optimum may have been above or below the pH stated in the hypothesis; 8. In this experiment however the optimum is taken at 8 because the graph does not rise again.

We will observe the reaction of a buffer solution with added acids or bases. We will then evaluate buffering capacity in response to additions added from dilute acid and bases to the buffer.

ii. The second part of the titration series involves titration of NaOH with Hydrochloric acid (HCL). Again, three reps of titration and a blank titration have to be completed. A volumetric pipet is used to measure 10.00mL of HCL into three labeled conical flasks. Then the flasks are filled with deionized water until about the 50mL mark. A buret is

By using acid-base titration, we determined the suitability of phenolphthalein and methyl red as acid base indicators. We found that the equivalence point of the titration of hydrochloric acid with sodium hydroxide was not within the ph range of phenolphthalein's color range. The titration of acetic acid with sodium hydroxide resulted in an equivalence point out of the range of methyl red. And the titration of ammonia with hydrochloric acid had an equivalence point that was also out of the range of phenolphthalein.. The methyl red indicator and the phenolphthalein indicator were unsuitable because their pH ranges for their color changes did not cover the equivalence points of the trials in which they were used. However, the

The pH of a solution is the measure of the concentration of charged Hydrogen ions in that given solution. A solution with a pH lower than seven is considered to be acidic. A solution with a higher pH is a base. It is very important for organisms to maintain a stable pH. Biological molecules such as proteins function only at a certain pH level and any changes in pH can result in them not functioning properly. To maintain these constant pH levels, buffer solutions are used. A buffer solution can resist change to small additions of acids or base’s. A good buffer will have components that act like a base, and components that act like an acid.

First, three titration curves and three second derivative curves were created to determine the average pH at the half-equivalence point from the acetic acid titrations. Titration curves were used as visuals to portray buffer capacity. The graphs and a table, Table 1, that showcased the values collected were created and included below. The flat region, the middle part, of Figures 1, 2 and 3, showed the zone at which the addition of a base or acid did not cause changes in pH. Once surpassed, the pH increased rapidly when a small amount of base, NaOH, was added to the buffer solution. Using the figures below and

The hydrogen ion (H+) concentration is extremely important to living organisms. Even small changes in H+ ¬¬ion concentration can cause serious consequences to the structural and functional integrity of molecules. Consequently, it is important to regulate the pH within strict limits so that important biochemical processes of living systems can proceed normally.

An acid-base titration is the determination of the concentration of an acid or base by exactly neutralizing the acid/base with an acid or base of known concentration. This allows for quantitative analysis of the concentration of an unknown acid

For this experiment, a pH meter was used so this part of the experiment began with the calibration of the pH meter with specified buffers. The buret was then filled with the standard HCl solution and a set-up for titration was prepared. 200g of the carbonate-bicarbonate solid sample was weighed and dissolved in 100 mL of distilled water. The sample solution was then transferred into a 250-ml volumetric flask and was diluted to the 250-mL mark. The flask was inverted several times for uniform mixing. A 50-mL aliquot of the sample solution was measured and placed unto a beaker. 3 drops of the phenolphthalein indicator was added to the solution in the beaker. The electrode of the pH meter was then immersed in the beaker and the solution containing the carbonate-bicarbonate mixture was titrated with the standard HCl solution to the phenolphthalein endpoint. Readings of the pH were taken at an interval of 0.5 mL addition of the titrant. After the first endpoint is obtained, 3 drops of the methyl orange was added to the same solution and was titrated with the standard acid until the formation of an orange-colored solution. Readings of the pH were also taken at 0.5 mL addition of the titrant.