J. A. K, Chan, J. T. Gevana, K. J. L. Namor, R. L. C. Oporto, S. H. A. A. Samonte, C. E. A. Sarco

[Chemistry 2] Lab 3.
1 – Acid-Base Equilibria: Hydrolysis of

Salt Solutions ACID-BASE EQUILIBRIA: HYDROLYSIS
OF SALT
SOLUTIONS
J. A. K, CHAN, J. T. GEVANA, K. J. L. NAMOR, R. L. C.
OPORTO, S. H. A. A. SAMONTE, C. E. A. SARCO
Grade 10-Gluon
Department of Science and Technology
Philippine Science High School-Central Visayas Campus
Talaytay, Argao, Cebu, Philippines
Date Performed: February 6-7, 2019
Date Submitted: March 14, 2019
ABSTRACT
A specific a mount of several chemicals were used in this
experiment. Each chemical was placed in a test tube with its
corresponding label. Solutions known as indicators were
placed in each test tube by a dropper to check the chemical’s
colour change. The change in colour after reacting to such
indicators became the data used to compare to the pH level
indicator table. The pH levels were determined by taking the
average of the values taken from the comparison done with the
table.
INTRODUCTION
Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction in which water is used to
break down the bonds of a particular substance. In
biotechnology these substances are often polymers. The word
hydrolysis comes from the word hydro, which is Greek for
water, and lysis, which means "to unbind."
It can also be thought of as the exact opposite reaction to condensation, which is the process
wherein two molecules combine to form one larger molecule. The end result of this reaction is
that the larger molecule ejects a water molecule. One way to remember the difference between
the two process is if you think of it in the context that hydrolysis uses water to break down
something while condensation, on the other hand, grows something, by removing water.
There are three main types of hydrolysis: acid, base and salt hydrolysis.
• For acid hydrolysis, water, according to the Bronsted-Lowry acid theory, acts either as an acid
or a base. In this case, the water molecule gives away a proton. An example of this type of
hydrolysis is the formation of soap or saponification.
• For base hydrolysis, it is very similar to the hydrolysis for base dissociation. A base that often
dissociates in water is ammonia (NH3).
• The most common type of hydrolysis is the salt hydrolysis. It occurs when salt from a weak
base or acid dissolves in liquid. When this occurs, water spontaneously ionizes into hydroxide
anions and hydronium cations.
Salts are compounds formed by the neutralization reaction between an acid and a base. They
generally ionize in water furnishing cations and anions. The cations or anions formed during
ionization of salts either exist as hydrated ions in aqueous solutions or interact with water to
regenerate the acids and bases.
The process of interaction between cations or anions of salts

and water is known as the hydrolysis of salts. On the basis of
hydrolysis, salts are divided into three categories: acidic salts,
basic salts, and neutral salts.
There are four possible mechanisms of forming salts:
1. If the salt is formed from a strong base and strong acid, then
the salt solution is neutral, indicating that the bonds in the salt
solution will not break apart (indicating no hydrolysis
occurred) and is basic.
2. If the salt is formed from a strong acid and weak base, the
bonds in the salt solution will break apart and becomes acidic.
3. If the salt is formed from a strong base and weak acid, the
salt solution is basic and hydrolyzes.
4. If the salt is formed from a weak base and weak acid, will
hydrolyze, but the acidity or basicity depends on the
equilibrium constants of Ka and Kb. If the Ka value is greater
than the Kbvalue, the resulting solution will be acidic and vice
versa.
Acid-base indicators or pH indicators are substances that
change color depending on the pH level of a particular
substance. They are usually weak acids or bases, that when
dissolved in water, they dissociate slightly and form ions.
Four different kinds of acid-base indicators were used for this
particular experiment: methyl orange, and methyl red,
phenolphthalein and bromothymol blue.
• Methyl orange is frequently used in titration because of its
clear and distinct color variance at different pH values.
Methyl orange shows red color in acidic medium and yellow
color in basic medium. In an acid, it is reddish in color and in
alkali, it is yellow.
• Methyl red is an indicator dye that turns red in acidic
solutions. It is a pH indicator and is red in pH under 4.4 and
yellow in pH over 6.2, and orange in between.
• Phenolphthalein is a colourless, weak acid which dissociates
in water forming pink anions. Under acidic conditions, the
equilibrium is to the left, and the concentration of the anions
is too low for the pink colour to be observed. However,
under alkaline conditions, the equilibrium is to the right, and
the concentration of the anion becomes sufficient for the
pink colour to be observed.
• Bromothymol blue is mostly used in applications that
require measuring substances that would have a relatively
neutral pH (near 7). It acts as a weak acid in solution. It can
thus be in protonated or deprotonated form, appearing
yellow or blue, respectively. It is bright aquamarine by itself,
and greenish-blue in a neutral solution.
This experiment aims to determine the pH levels of several
aqueous solutions and one way to do that is to use acid-base
indicators. This experiment also aims to determine the color
transition of each of these indicators and from that
information, determine the value of the acid or base
dissociation constant for each of the ions.
METHODOLOGY Part 1
Using a dropper, one mL of H2O (unboiled), H2O (boiled),
NaCl, NaC2H3O2, Cu(NO3)2, NH4Cl, ZnCl2, KAl(SO4)2, and
Na2CO3 will be placed into 4 separate test tubes each to be
tested for their pH. Each solution will be tested with different
indicators, where one test tube is tested with methyl orange,
one test tube is tested with methyl red, one test tube is tested
with bromothymol blue, and one test tube is tested with
phenolphthalein. One drop of each indicator will be added to
each test tube and the change or no change of color will be
recorded.
Part 2
After recording the color changes, the pH of each solution will
be identified. It will be identified by using the indicator color
table, where the color changes of each indicator will be
compared to the colors in the table and the results are
quantified. The pH will be recorded.
Part 3
Using the pH derived from part 2, each solution will have its
[H+] concentration identified by using the following formula:
[H+]=10-pH
The [OH-] concentrations will also be identified using the
following formula:
[OH-]=10-(14-pH)
The results will be recorded.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The solutions’ colors were placed in a table and using an
indicator, their pH was found.
Table 1 Solution and their experimental pH
Solution pH
H2O (unboiled) 6
NaCl
H2O (boiled)
NaC2H3O2
7.6
Cu(NO3)2
NH4Cl
4.4
ZnCl2
https://cdn.fbsbx.com/v/t59.2708-
21/53873522_25885286171...=644600e394740f22831c8fd63b4ce872&oe=5C8A6EFF&dl=1 13/03/2019, 4H12 PM Page
4 of 8
KAl(SO4)2
3.5
Na2CO3
7.6
There is a difference in the pH levels of unboiled and boiled

water; this may have been caused by the dissolved carbon
dioxide in the unboiled water, forming carbonic acid. Boiling
the water would release the gas and therefore increase its pH.
NaCl is also found to have no effect on the pH, since it was
dissolved in unboiled water. NaCl is a salt formed from the
neutralization of a strong acid (HCl) with a strong base
(Na(OH)), thus it is actually a neutral salt.
Acetate (C2H3O2) is the conjugate base of acetic acid; this
explains the pH level of sodium acetate leaning towards the
basic side, with a pH greater than 7.
According to the PubChem, an open chemistry database, when
cupric nitrate is spilt in water, their recommendation is to
neutralize it with crushed limestone. Limestone is an alkaline
agent that has the ability to neutralize acids. Thus, it can be
deduced that cupric nitrate is acidic, and the experimental pH
of a 5.0 is in line with that deduction. (NCBI, 2019)
Zinc(II) dichloride is acidic in aqueous solutions, and so the
experimental pH of 6.0 is consistent with this fact. (NCBI,
2019)
Ammonium chloride has the pH of 5-5.5 in aqueous solution
at 25 degrees Celsius, where it is 1-10% of the solution. This
means that the solution is acidic, and although the experiment
yielded a pH of 4.4, it is still in line with the acidity of
ammonium chloride. (NCBI, 2019)
In 10% solutions, aluminum potassium phosphate has a pH
between 3.0 and 4.0, which is consistent with our experimental
result of 3.5. Sodium carbonate is also alkaline in aqueous
solutions. Our experiment also found that the
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sodium carbonate solution was basic. (NCBI, 2019)

Several reasons as to why the experimental pH is not the
actual pH of the solution includes the fact that the pH
indicators are in ranges, and so there is no exact value. More
color indicators would have yielded more accurate values. The
indicators themselves are acids and bases and they can affect
the pH when they are added to un-buffered solutions,
especially if the test was done with a liquid system indictor
and not a strip
CONCLUSION
Using various pH color indicators such as, Methyl orange,
Methyl red, Bromothymol blue and Phenolphthalein, the team
was able to find pH values of certain aqueous solutions. Upon
analysis, the pH values found in the experiment were
consistent with pH values/ acid-base descriptions of the
aqueous solutions of the scientific community.
REFERENCES
[1] National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem
Compound Database; CID=18616,
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/18616 (accessed
Mar. 12, 2019).
Mar. 12, 2019).
Mar. 12, 2019).
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Mar. 12, 2019).
Mar. 12, 2019).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to graciously thank Philippine Science
High School- Central Visayas Campus for allowing the usage
of their laboratory equipment, and to Mr. Tan for his advice,
assistance and support throughout the course of the
experiment, as well as, Mr. Dizon and Mr. Tico for their
assistance.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
All authors contributed in the performance of the experiment,
under the assistance of Mr. Tan, the laboratory manager and
assistant, Mr. Dizon and Mr. Tico. Sarco wrote the
introduction of the report, while Oporto wrote the
methodology. All authors contributed equally.
APPENDIX
Table 1 Solutions and the colors found
Methyl Methyl Bromothymol
Solution Phenolphthalein orange red blue
H2O
yell yell org - (unboiled)
H2O (boiled)
yell yell blu-gr -
NaCl yell yell org - NaC2H3O2 yell yell blu - Cu(NO3)2 yell pink org - NH4Cl yell yell org - ZnCl2 yell yell yell-org - KAl(SO4)2 org pink org
- Na2CO3 yell yell Blu-gr -
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3 32++

J. A. K, Chan, J. T. Gevana, K. J. L. Namor, R. L. C. Oporto, S. H. A. A. Samonte, C. E. A. Sarco

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[Chemistry 2] Lab 3.

1 – Acid-Base Equilibria: Hydrolysis of

The process of interaction between cations or anions of salts

There is a difference in the pH levels of unboiled and boiled

sodium carbonate solution was basic. (NCBI, 2019)

[4] National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem

yell yell blu-gr -

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