Titration Lab

A.Me Request Description

In this lab you will use an online titration simulation to determine the Ka of two hypothetical weak acids. 

Step 1: Plan your Lab

Write out a purpose, procedure and materials list that you would need if you were going to complete this experiment in a conventional lab.  Be sure to include safety considerations in your procedure!  You will want to visit the simulation at http://users.wfu.edu/ylwong/chem/titrationsimulator/index.html to “look around” and get a feel for the materials available.

Step 2: Conduct your Inquiry

Visit the page: http://users.wfu.edu/ylwong/chem/titrationsimulator/index.html  and select Find the Ka of a hypothetical weak acid solution from the list (menu option 3)

Conduct your inquiry on two different acids (you can select the “restart with a new unknown pKa” to test the second acid.  If you would like to re-run a titration of the same acid, make sure you select “restart using the same unknown concentration” (there is a typo).

Record your observations: in this case you will take a screen shot (use the print screen function on your computer which can then be pasted into a word document) of

1. The initial set up of the experiment (as shown below) AND
2. the finalized titration curves with the answers present (after you have pressed the “turn in lab report button”

These are to be included with your report (a minimum of 4 pictures in total-2 for each acid tested).

Each picture must have descriptive title below it.  See the following example:

Figure 1: this figure shows the experimental set up using 0.1M NaOH to determine the pKa of an unknown acid in a 25ml solution.

Step 3: Find Ka and Concentration

Using the data you have gathered, calculate the Ka value for each hypothetical acid.

Once you have calculated your Ka value, use the data to find the concentration of the unknown acids. You will need to submit this work with your lab.

Step 4: Applications of Titrations

Write a paragraph explaining at least one application of titration in the real world.  If you use external information, this information must be cited using in-text citations (Smith, 2010) AND referenced using a full reference. Note that this is worth a large portion of your mark and must be sufficiently detailed and insightful to get those marks!

Step 5: Submission

Submit your lab for evaluation.  Be sure you use the rubric attached to check that you have met all requirements.