Name

: Group Six

Class

: 4 Science 2

Date

: 25 September 2014

Title

: The Neutralisation of Acid and Alkali

Aim

: To study the effect of the acidity towards the end-point of an acid-base

titration during neutralisation will decrease when the acidity of an
increases.

acid
Hypothesis

: The end-point of an acid-base titration during neutralisation will

decrease when the acidity of an acid increases.

Apparatus

: 250 ml conical flask, beaker, burette, filter funnel, measuring cylinder,

retort stand, white tile.

Materials

: 1.0M hydrochloric acid, HCl ; 1.0M sulphuric acid and 1.0M sodium
hydroxide solution, NaOH, phenolphthalein indicator.

Procedure

: 1. Measure 40 cm3 of hydrochloric acid using a measuring cylinder and

placed it inside the burette.
2. Record the initial reading of the burette.
3. Measure 15 cm3 of sodium hydroxide solution and placed it inside a
conical flask.
4. Add a few drops of phenolphthalein into the conical flask.
5. Place the conical flask on the white tile.
6. Start titrating the acid into the conical flask drop-by-drop until the
solution changes colour.
7. Record the observation and the final reading of the burette.
8. Repeat the experiment using sulphuric acid.
9. Tabulate all data obtained.

Observation : 1. When a few drops of phenolphthalein is added into the sodium

hydroxide solution, the colour of the solution changed from colourless
to pink.
2. When the hydrochloric acid is added drop-by-drop into the conical
flask which is swirled continuously and the colour will change from
pink to colourless. Same goes to the sulphuric acid.

Results

: A. Hydrochloric Acid
Volume of acid used,
V (cm3)

V1

V2

V average

Final burette reading

27.9

26.5

27.2

Initial burette reading

16.5

15.3

15.9

Volume of acid used

11.4

11.2

11.3

Volume of acid used,

V (cm3)

V1

V2

V average

Final burette reading

25.80

24.90

25.35

Initial burette reading

19.00

15.60

17.30

Volume of acid used

6.80

9.30

8.05

B. Sulphuric Acid

Calculation

:
Average volume of hydrochloric acid used =

11.4 +11.2
=11.3 cm3
2

Hence, 11.3 cm3 of the hydrochloric acid is neutralised by 15 cm3 of

1.0M sodium hydroxide solution. Number of moles of sodium hydroxide
in 15 cm3 = MV
=

15.00
1=0.015mol
1000

NaOH ( aq ) + HCl(aq ) NaCl ( aq ) + H 2 O(l )

Based on the above equation, 1 mole of sodium hydroxide is needed to
neutralise 1 mole of sulphuric acid.
Hence, number of moles of hydrochloric acid needed to neutralise 0.015
mol of sodium hydroxide is 0.015 mol.

Average volume of sulphuric acid used =

6.8+ 9.3
=8.05 cm3
2

Hence, 8.05 cm3 of the sulphuric acid is neutralised by 15 cm3 of 1.0 M

sodium hydroxide solution. Number of moles of sodium hydroxide in 15
cm3 = MV
=

15.00
1=0.015mol
1000
2 NaOH ( aq ) + H 2 SO 4 ( aq ) Na2 SO 4 ( aq ) +2 H 2 O(l )

Based on the above equation, 2 mole of sodium hydroxide is needed to

neutralise 1 mole of sulphuric acid.
Hence, number of moles of hydrochloric acid needed to neutralise 0.015
mol of sodium hydroxide =

0.015
1=0.0075 mol
2

Inference

: The end-point of an acid-base titration during neutralisation will

decrease when the acidity of an acid increases
because sulphuric acid
is diprotic acid and it produces twice the concentration of hydrogen ion
with water when compared to hydrochloric acid. Therefore, less amount
of sulphuric acid to completely neutralise the sodium hydroxide solution.

Discussion

: 1. In this experiment, the following changes occurred :

(a) When the hydrochloric acid is added to the conical flask, the H+ ion
from hydrochloric acid neutralise the OH- ion from sodium
hydroxide

( aq ) H 2 O ( l )
+ ( aq ) +OH
H

(b) As more H+ ion is added, the neutralisation reaction decreases the

concentration of OH- ion in the conical flask. Hence, the colour of
the phenolphthalein indicator becomes paler.
(c) At the end point, all the OH- ions in the conical flask are
neutralised by the H+ ions. The indicator turns colourless.
(d) The products of the neutralisation of hydrochloric acid and sodium
hydroxide are water and sodium chloride.
(e) The same theoretical above will goes to the sulphuric acid. The
products of the neutralisation of sulphuric acid and sodium
hydroxide are sodium sulphate and water.
2. Based on this experiment conducted, the results part, the range of
the volume of the sulphuric acid between the first time and second
time is big. The reason is when the acid is added into the burette, the
stopcock of the burette is not close so that the acid is lost then the
initial burette of reading is not accurate. Hence, the volume of acid
used is affected.
3. In the next experiment, the stopcock of the burette part will be lookout more carefully so that the wrong part that have been do will not
be happen again.
4. The burette is rinsed with a little sulphuric acid or a little hydrochloric
acid to remove the water present inside the burette. This is to
prevent the water from diluting the acid that is poured into the
burette.
5. A piece of white tile is used to enable the change in colour of the
phenolphthalein indicator to be clearly seen.

Conclusion

: The end-point of an acid-base titration during neutralisation will

decrease when the acidity of an acid increases.
Hypothesis is accepted.