Delmi Rodriguez Period 5 May 15, 2013 Acid-Base Crime Scene Titration

Introduction: The purpose of this lab report is to identify who killed Mr. Mek by finding the concentration of four unknown acids found as possible evidence in the murder investigation, using a titration. A titration is a technique used to determine the exact concentration of an unknown acid or a base. In a titration process, an acid or a base that contains a known concentration is carefully added to an acid or a base with an unknown concentration until the solution becomes neutralized. Neutralization is when an acid and a base react and form a neutral water and salt. An indicator must be used to identify if a solution is neutral. A commonly used indicator, phenolphthalein, turns light pink when a solution is neutral. After the solution is neutral, the concentration of the unknown solution can be calculated because the reaction reaches an endpoint, where the moles of the base are equal to the moles of the acid. In this case, the concentration is measured by molarity, moles over liters. In order to figure out who killed Mr. Mek, a solution with the matching molarity of the crime scene must match the molarity of one of the acids found in the possession of the suspects in the investigation.

Procedures: 1) Goggles and the following materials were used 100 mL graduated cylinder 50 mL burette, stand, and clamp. 125 mL Erlenmeyer flask. Phenolphthalein indicator. Glass funnel. 2) The stopcock was turned perpendicular to the tube of the burette in order for it to be closed. 3) The burette was filled up nearly to the top with 1.0 M NaOH base and the initial volume of NaOH was recorded. 4) Exactly 20.0 mL from one of the acid samples was measured using a graduated cylinder. 5) 3 drops of phenolphthalein were added to the acid (it remained clear). 6) The unknown acid was titrated by opening the stopcock slowly so a stream of NaOH could come out. 7) As the drops fell in the acid, the flask was gently swirled. Observations were recorded. 8) The solution started becoming pinker faster and took a longer time to swirl until it was clear. 9) When the solution started to take longer to swirl, the stopcock was turned to a partly opened position. 10) When the solution stayed pink, stopcock was closed. Titration was a faint pink color. 11) The final volume of NaOH in the burette was recorded. 12) Total Volume of NaOH used was calculated and was recorded on the data table. 13) The burette was refilled with NaOH and the procedure was repeated for 3 other samples.

Table 1: Data collected from the titration trials for each suspect and the crime scene. Exact Volume of HCl (mL) Suspect A Kirkpatrick HCl Acid Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 1 Trial 2 Suspect C Nguyen HCl Acid Crime Scene HCl Acid Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 1 Trial 2 20 19.5 20.5 21 20 20.5 19.5 Initial Volume of NaOH (mL) 40 29.85 31.05 26.55 29.2 12.5 19.5 Final Volume of NaOH (mL) 49.55 40 35.1 31 45 29.2 30 Total Volume of NaOH Used in titration (mL) 9.55 10.15 4.05 4.45 15.8 16.7 10.5 Molarity of HCl (M) 0.4775 0.5205 0.1975 0.2119 0.79 0.814 Little too pink. 0.538 Barely pink. Observation/Notes

Pink faded after a minute.

Suspect B Larkin HCl Acid

20

33.7

43.2

9.5

0.475

Calculations: (Attached on the back)

Conclusion: The purpose of this lab report was met, Mr. Meks murderer was found by using a titration. The titration technique was used in order to find out the concentration of an unknown acid or a base. Concentration is measured by molarity, moles over liters. In this experiment, NaOH was added to different samples of HCl, in order for the solution to neutralize. Neutralization is when both an acid and a base react with each other and form water and a salt. When the base and acid neutralized, it was possible to find the exact concentration of the crime scene sample and the murderers acid sample too. It was possible to find the concentration after the base and acid were neutralized because the moles of the base were equal to the moles of the acid. After all the data was discovered, the calculations suggested that Mr. Meks murderer was Mrs. Kirkpatrick. The crime scene samples concentration was 0.475M of HCl, and the acid found in Mrs. Kirkpatricks possession was 0.4775M of HCl. Out of all the data that was collected throughout the investigation, Mrs. Kirkpatricks HCl acid had almost the same amount of concentration as the one used to kill Mr. Mek. Although, the data suggests that Mrs. Kirkpatrick was the killer, there were some possible errors in the experiment. When the NaOH was being added into the Erlenmeyer flask that contained the HCl acid, some droplets of the base never reached the acid, they remained on the sides of the flask. This could have affected the experiment because not all the base that was poured into the flask was used up in order to neutralize the acid. Since more NaOH had to be added in order to get the solution to neutralize, the molarity of the solution couldve increased from its actual number, ultimately affecting the accuracy of the data. Another possible error was the possibility of carbon dioxide in the solution. The carbon dioxide may have already been in the water that was used to make the solutions. When carbon dioxide is dissolved in water it

forms carbonic acid. This is a possible error because the carbonic acid couldve potentially added more acid to the solution; therefore, more NaOH wouldve been required to neutralize it. When more of the NaOH base is added to the solution it affects the final concentration of the HCl acid because the concentration of the base wouldve been higher than that of the acid. Therefore, if there was a higher concentration of the base, the final concentration of the acid couldve been off by a couple of numbers.