Questions:

Part A. Determination of pH using acid-base indicators

1. Consider your results for the solutions of 0.10 M HCl and 0.1 M CH3COOH. Which
has the lower pH and why is it lower?

A low pH means that the substance is very acidic, since the lower the number on the
pH scale, the more acidic it is. It also means that the substance has more positive
hydrogen ions than hydroxide ions. 0.1M of HCl will have a lower pH value as it is a
strong acid and can fully ionize to form ions in solution.

2. Consider your results for the 0.10 M ZnSO4 solution.

a) Is the solution acidic or basic?

Answer: acidic

b) Which ion, Zn2+ or SO42-, is causing the observed acidity or basicity?

Answer: Zn2+ ions

c) Write the net ionic equation that shows why this ion is acidic or basic:

Answer: Zn2+ (aq) + 2H2O(l) Zn(OH)2 (s) + 2H+(aq)

Part B. Using pH meters

1. Consider your results for the 0.10 M NaCl solution. Is the colour obtained when
tested with bromocresol green indicator as expected? Explain

The colour observed for the 0.10 M NaCl solution when tested with bromocresol green
is as expected, a light blue colour is formed when bromocresol green is added into the
0.10 M NaCl solution. When the pH of 0.10 M NaCl is measured with pH meter a value
of 4.65 is obtained. Then using the table of pH and colour transition range, it can be
seen a mixture of 0.10 M NaCl with Bromocresol green indicator lies on the pH range of
4 -5 with colour transition of light blue similar to the experimental result.

2. Consider your results for the 0.10 Na2CO3 solution.

a) Is the solution acidic or basic?

Answer: Basic

b) Which ion, Na+ or CO32- is causing the observed acidity or basicity?

Answer: CO32-

c) Write the net ionic equation below that shows why this ion is acidic or basic.

Answer: CO32- (aq) + H2O(l) HCO3- (aq) + OH- (aq)

3. Consider your results for the 0.1 M NaHSO4 solution.

1. Is the solution acidic or basic?

Answer: acidic

2. Which ion, Na+ or HSO4- is causing the observed acidity or basicity?

Answer: HSO4-

3. Write the net ionic equation that shows why this ion is acidic or basic.

Answer: HSO4- (aq) + H2O(l) 2H+ (aq) + SO42- (aq) + OH-(aq)

Part D. Determining the value of Ka for an unknown acid by titration

1. How do you know the concentrations of HA(aq) and A-(aq) were equal in the two
solutions you mixed to form the 50-50 buffer solution? Explain your answer below in
terms of chemical equations and specific steps you took to ensure that this was the
case.

The concentrations of HA(aq) and A-(aq) were equal in the two solutions mixed to form
the 50-50 buffer solution have been known using the equation of M1V1=M2V2 , where
M1 is the concentration of NaOH and V1 is the volume of NaOH used while M2 is the
concentration of unknown acid and V2 is the volume of unknown acid solution used.

For beaker HA, the amount of NaOH required to titrate 50mL unknown acid
solution is 8.5mL (taken from burette reading) and the concentration of NaOH is 0.2M.
Thus, using equation M1V1=M2V2, (0.2)(0.0085)=(0.050+0.0085)(M2) ,where
M2=0.029 mol dm-3 for HA beaker. As for beaker A-, distilled water with same volume
(8.5mL) of 0.2M of NaOH used to titrate A-, (0.2)(0.0085)=(0.050+0.0085)(M2), where
M2=0.029 mol dm-3 fo A- beaker.

Then, when using 25mL of 0.029M of HA to combine with 25mL of 0.029M of A-,
because the concentration of HA is the same as A-, a 50-50 buffer solution will be
obtained.

2. Using Equations (2) and (3) in the introduction section of this experiment, show
that Ka=[H3O+] for the 50-50 buffer solution:

Generally, since only one or two drops of phenolphthalein indicator added to the
solution, [H3O+] by indicator can be negliglible. The total amount of [H3O+] in the
solution is affected by other acid/base in the solution. Equation of equilibrium constant
[ H 3O  ][ In  ]
can be expressed as below: K ai 
[ HIn ]
A buffer solution is a solution that maintains its pH when strong acid or base is added
to it. A buffer solution contains both acid component HA and the conjugate base
component A-.

The general equation for the dissociation of weak acid ,HA in water is expressed as
below:

HA (aq) + H2O(l)  A-(aq) + H3O+(aq)

[ H 3O  ][ A ]
Where we can obtain K a  and from there we know that it becomes
[ HA]
[ HA]
[ H 3O  ]  K a
[ A ]

Since the molar concentration of HA and A- is the same which is 50:50 in the 50:50
buffer solution for this experiment, the equation can be simplified to [ H 3O  ]  K a
(proven)