Alex White

Making a Standard Solution

Equipment
100cm
3
volumetric flask
Solid substance (Na
2
CO
3
)
Analytical Balance
Weighing Bottle
Pipette
Wash Bottle filled with distilled water
Funnel
Spatula


Procedure
1. Collect the equipment needed

2. To make a 0.1m solution of Na
2
CO
3
, approximately 1.06g of the solid is needed

3. This can be measured using an Analytical Balance, first place the weighing bottle inside the
balance and tare it so the weight of that will not be added to the weight of the Na
2
CO
3


4. Now using a spatula add a rough amount of the Na
2
CO
3
into the weighing bottle, this must
be done outside the balance as it could be damaged if some of the substance enters the
mechanism.

5. Weigh this amount, and then depending on the weight, add or remove some of the Na
2
CO
3
.
Repeat this until you get to within 0.01g of the required amount, then close the door on the
scales to ensure it is completely accurate

6. Now using the funnel pour the weighed amount of Na
2
CO
3
into the volumetric flask, this
could take some time as it may get clogged in the funnel, if this happens add some of the
distilled water, this should make it easier to remove the blockage.

7. Once all the Na
2
CO
3
is in the Volumetric Flask add a small amount of distilled water into the
Flask to dissolve the solid.

8. Once all the solid is dissolved you need to top up the flask to 100cm
3
of water to do this add
the distilled water until you get close to the line that marks out 100cm
3
once you get within
about 1cm of the line stop adding water straight from the bottle and switch to the pipette

9. Using the pipette add the water drop by drop until the meniscus of the water is lined up
with the 100cm
3
mark on the flask. If you go over you will need to re-make the entire
solution. Now add the top to the flask and mix, normally turning it up and down 10 times is
enough to ensure the solution is fully mixed

Alex White