J. A. Ines/Chemistry 26.

1 (2018) P a g e |1

Quantitative Determination of Soda Ash Composition by Double Indicator

Titration
J.A. Ines1
1National Institute of Geological Sciences, College of Science, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, 1101

Performed: February 07, 2018 Submitted: February 14, 2018

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 5. What are the possible sources of errors

1. Why is the distilled water to be used in this
experiment need to be boiled?
Distilled water is sometimes supersaturated
with carbon dioxide . Boiling the distilled water
briefly eliminates Carbon Dioxide and other
impurities. Carbon Dioxide is eliminated since
when the primary standard Sodium Hydroxide
reacts with Carbon Dioxide, it will lead to a
negative systematic error in analysis called
carbonate error for those solutions in which an
indicator with a basic transition range, such as
phenolphthalein, is used.
2. Why is a mixture of NaOH and NaHCO3
incompatible?
The mixture of NaOH and NaHCO3 will only
produce more Na2CO3 and H2O. Due to the
increase in concentration of Na2CO3 and H2O, this
will affect the endpoint of titration since there
will be changes in the pH of the solution.
3. Why the solution needs to be boiled before
reaching the methyl orange endpoint?
During this point, the solution may contain a
significant amount of Carbon Dioxide that can
affect the overall pH of the solution. Boiling the
solution will eliminate the Carbon Dioxide. Not
boiling the solution will lead to the second
titration to end early than actual time due to
high pH of the solution .
and their effect on the calculated
parameters? Rationalize.
If distilled water was not boiled or if it is taken
out on the hotplate already before even boiling,
CO2 will still be present and would affect the
acidity of the solution. Human perception of the
colors indicating endpoints of titration would
also cause errors in the experiment. It can be
earlier than the actual equivalence point or it
can also be over-titrated. Improperly washed
burettes and other glassware used can also
contribute to errors for this experiment.
REFERENCES
[1] Skoog, D., West, D., Holler, F. J. & Crouch, S.
(2004). Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry
(8th edition). California: Brooks/Cole. Thomson
Learning.
[2] Petrucci, R. H.; Herring, F. G.; Madura, J. D.;
Bissonnette, C. General Chemistry: Principles and
Modern Applications, 10th ed.; Pearcson Canada
Inc.: Toronto, Ontario, 2011.
[3] Silberberg, M. S. Principles of General
Chemistry, 3rd .; McGraw Hill: New York, 2013.

4. What are the basic components of the

unknown soda ash sample based on the
volume relationship at the phenolphthalein
and methyl orange endpoints? Report the
percentage of each components and report
percent error.

41.81 ± 0.01 % - NaHCO3

58.16 ± 0.04 % - Na2CO3
J. A. Ines/Chemistry 26.1 (2018) P a g e |2