University Of North Carolina At Charlotte

Chemistry Department: CHEM 1251L-015

Lap Report: Creating Solution of Standard Molarity

Mohammed Albusairi

Lap Partner: Martin Isoler

October 7, 2013

Introduction: This lab is all about learning and getting the concept of concentration of solutes in a substance. Concentration can be found by calculating the number of moles of the solute and divide it by the number of liters of the solution used. The more moles of solute in the solution, the higher the concentration is. The concentration is measured in units of molarity (M). The equation used to find molarity is: Molarity (M) = m/L (moles solute / liters solution) Solutions of CuSO4*5H2O were made in this experiment, with the purpose of understanding the concept of concentration. Spec 20 was used to help and figure out what the concentration is because the concentration cannot be visually detected. The Spec 20 is an instrument that measures the absorption of electromagnetic radiation by an object, in this case, the CuSO4 solution. The way that the Spec 20 works is by highlighting whichever wavelength selected by the user into the solution causing the light to be absorbed. The more the solution is concentrated the more light is absorbed because it has more solute molecules. The Spec 20 gives the present transmittance (T%), which helps us determine what the absorbance (A) is using the following formula: A= - Log (%T/100) After knowing what the absorbance of the solution is, obtaining the concentration of that solution will not be a big deal. The beer Lambert Law will help us determine the concentration in this case (because the absorbance is known). The Beer Lambert Law directs that the absorbance of a solution is equivalent to the Absorptivity multiplied by the Path length times the concentration of the solution in the following formula: A=E*l*c

Where: A = Absorbance of solution E = Absorptivity l = Path length c = Concentration of the solution The Beer Lambert Law could be used to determine the concentration via a graph, a straight line will be created that passes through the origin, the slope of such line is the characteristic of and depends on the used solution. The Beer-Lambert plot provides a calibration plot that can be used to determine the amount of concentration of a substance of the same solution with an unknown concentration.

Procedures: The Spec 20 should be calibrated at first with 580nm. A tube with a standard solution (CuSO4 0.200M) should be placed in the Spec 20 to be measured. After recording the results, the same procedure should be repeated but this time the Spec 20 should be calibrated to 590nm and then one more time with a 600nm. After recording the numbers from the three different wavelengths, the numbers must be compared to figure out which wavelength works to be the best by looking for the smallest number in percent transmittance or the biggest absorbance and the wavelength that gave these results should be used for the nest steps. The Spec 20 must be set to the wavelength with the maximum absorbance. The four different concentrations of CuSO4 (0.500M, 0.200M, 0.100M, 0.050M) must be placed in the Spec 20 individually. The percent transmittance of each solution should be recorded. The absorbance must be calculated for each solvent with the different concentrations using the A = - log ( T ) formula. Starting from the 0.500M concentration then adding 8 mL of water to it will produce a

0.200 M solute, then adding 20 mL of water to it will produce a 0.100M solvent and at the add, adding 10mL of water it will give a 0.050 M solvent. Each of these solvents must have their absorbance recorded by using the Spec 20 and the calculation in the formula. The percent transmittance of the four new solutions was measured, using the Spec 20, and recorded.

Results: Table 1: Percent Transmittance and Absorbance values of standard 0.200M solution with different wavelength M Standard (mol/L) Wavelength (nm) % Transmittance Maximum Absorbance 0.200 0.200 0.200 580 590 600 72.6 68.0 58.8 0.139 0.167 0.231

Table 2: Percent Transmittance and Absorbance of the Standard Solutions Concentration of Standards (M) 0.050 0.100 0.200 0.500 86.4 74.8 58.4 28.4 0.0634 0.126 0.234 0.547 %T Absorbance

Graph 1: Beer-Lambert Law plot of absorbance versus concentration of CuSO4 standard solution.
0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 Beer-Lambert Law Linear (Beer-Lambert Law) y = 1.0655x + 0.0162 R = 0.9995

Table 3: Percent Transmittance and Absorbance of the Made Solutions Concentration of the Made Solutions (M) 0.050 0.100 0.200 0.500 87.2 75.2 58.9 28.8 0.0595 0.1238 0.2299 0.540 %T Absorbance

Table 4: Actual Concentration of the Made Solutions Concentration of the Made Solution (M) Absorbance Actual Concentration

0.050 0.100 0.200 0.500

0.0595 0.1238 0.2299 0.5406

0.0406 0.1009 0.2005 0.492

Table 5: Percent Transmittance and Absorbance of an unknown substance Solution Unknown %T 46.2 Absorbance 0.335 Concentration (M) 0.299

Table 6: Percent Error of Concentration of the Made Solutions Concentration of Standard Solution 0.050 0.100 0.200 0.500 Concentration of Made Solution 0.0406 0.1009 0.2005 0.492 18.8 0.9 0.1 1.6 Calculated % Error

Table 7: Absorbance Error of the Made Solution Absorbance of Standard Solution 0.0634 0.126 0.234 Absorbance of Made Solution 0.0595 0.1238 0.2299 6.15 1.7 1.7 Calculated % Error

0.547

0.540

1.2

Discussion: getting the solutes concentration by using the Spec 20. Choosing the correct wavelength must be done first to measure the percent transmittance. The wavelength range for this experiment was from 580 610 nm because the solution which was CuSO4 has a green-blue color. The 600 nm stands out to be the maximum absorbance wavelength between all three (580nm, 590nm and 600nm) as shown in table 1. This means that when the 600 nm wavelengths is applied to the substance, it excites the electrons in the dissolved solute molecules, causing the light to be absorbed. After choosing the correct wavelength, the percent transmittance of solutions of standard concentrations were given in the Spec 20 and their absorbance was calculated, as shown in Table 2. Using a graph on excel that had the values absorbance vs. concentration in it (Graph 1). Using the Beer-Lambert Law, that says the amount of light absorbed is dependent on how well the substance absorbs light, the path length of the light, and the concentration, an equation for the best fitted line was given as: Y = 1.0655x + 0.0162 Where: Y = Absorbance , 1.0655= m = slope of the line = which is equivalent to the product of the value of absorptivity and the path length. In this experiment, these two number do not vary; therefore, they are a constant on the equation. x = c = Concentration, 0.0162 = b = y-intercept = this number, it should have been a zero but it wasnt because a solution with zero concentration should have zero absorbance. The glass that holds the sample has some absorbance and miscalculations on the Beer-Lambert plot might have affected the b number. Four solutions of CuSO4 were given to have their concentration calculated by using the Beer-Lambert Law equation. On Table 3 the %T and A recorded and by using the Beer-Lambert equation, the concentration of the solutions were calculated (Table 4). Table 5 shows the percent transmittance and absorbance of a solution of unknown concentration, by using the BeerLambert Law; the concentration value was calculated as shown on the table. In table 6, the concentration of the standard solutions was compared to the made solutions and a percentage error was calculated for each. This table shows that the Beer-Lambert Law is a very effective method to find the concentration of solute in a known substance, with an accuracy rate of +/1.7%. On the first solution, the 0.050 M solution, the percent error is high (18.8 %), there are many factors that could cause it, for example a miscalculation error when making the substance, an irregularity on the glass in which the substance was placed, etc. Table 7 compares the absorbance values of the made solutions and the standard solutions. This table shows the accuracy of the Spec 20 with respect of substances with similar concentration. Conclusion: Beer-Lambert Law is a very effective way to find the concentration of solutions. The Spec 20 was a really helpful machine, because the percent transmittance was calculated by it, by applying a specific wavelength to the sample of solution and measures the amount of light that passes through the sample. Its really important to find the wavelength with the maximum absorbance for the given solution. By using the graph with the closest line on excel, The equation that was given after the graph represents the relationship of the absorbance of a solution and its

concentration, as stated by the Beer-Lambert Law. This equation can be used to find the concentration of substances of the same solution with unknown concentration of solute. In conclusion, this method is very effective, with only a +/- 2% error. Calculations: Absorbance = - log (transmittance) So, A (of 0.200M CuSO4 solution) = - log (.584) = 0.234 Absorbance = 1.0655 * concentration + 0.0162 So, c = (0.0595 0.0162) / 1.0655 = 0.0406 M

V2= (M3 * V3) / M2 V3= (0.05M * 20.0mL) / 0.10M = 10mL Percentage error = (measured value actual value ) / actual value * 100 %error = ( 0.0406 0.05 ) / 0.05 * 100 = 18.8%