Results

The concentration of fluoride within a contaminated sample of seawater (Sample #22) was
determined by analysis of linear regression trendline. Visualization of this data was presented in
Figures [1-3] with data used for graphing found in Table [2-4]. Data from Figures [1-3] used for
the calculation of fluoride concentration in the contaminated solution was presented in Table 5.
Concentration of fluoride in contaminated sample was determined as 7.28±0.13 ppm with
a %RSD of 1.74%. The trendline was created by graphing the mass of standard fluoride solution
added to the contaminated solution, and the electric potential drops measured by the Pasco
Fluoride Ion Selective Electrode. A stock solution of NaF was used for standard addition of
fluoride to contaminated solution. The determination of fluoride concentration in stock solution
NaF was presented in Table 6. Mass data for the experiment was represented in Table 7.
Final Results
[F-]Contaminated Seawater 7.28 ±0.13ppm 1.74% RSD
 Trial # 1 (m=101.47g) T=23.0*C
Mass of Standard NaF
Aliquot # Addeda -ECell (mV) 10-Ecell/59.16b
0 0 18.2 0.4924472
1 0.1984 11.8 0.6317437
2 0.3968 6.8 0.767463
3 0.5952 2.5 0.9072808
4 0.7936 -1.1 1.0437432
Table 2. Data recorded for the determination of fluoride concentration in the contaminated
sample of seawater. Columns (a) and (b) were graphed as x- and y- axes respectively for
Figure 2.

Trial # 2 (m=101.85g) T=23.0*C

Mass of Standard NaF
Aliquot # Addeda -ECell (mV) 10-Ecell/59.16b
0 0 18.4 0.4886288
1 0.1984 12.4 0.6171616
2 0.3968 7.3 0.7526721
3 0.5952 3.1 0.8863387
4 0.7936 -0.6 1.0236276

Table 3. Data recorded for the determination of fluoride concentration in the contaminated
sample of seawater. Columns (a) and (b) were graphed as x- and y- axes respectively for
Figure 3.

Trial # 3 (m=101.20g) T=23.0*C

Mass of Standard NaF
Aliquot # Addeda -ECell (mV) 10-Ecell/59.16b
0 0 18.4 0.4886288
1 0.1984 11.9 0.6292896
2 0.3968 6.9 0.7644818
3 0.5952 2.7 0.9002457
4 0.7936 -0.8 1.0316269
Table 4. Data recorded for the determination of fluoride concentration in the contaminated
sample of seawater. Columns (a) and (b) were graphed as x- and y- axes respectively for
Figure 4.
 Trial One ISE Data y = 0.6946x + 0.4929
R² = 1
1.2

0.8
10 (-Ecell/59.16)

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
-0.2
Mass of Standard Fluoride Added (g)

Figure 1. Visualization of data from Table 2. Data points were used to produce a trendline which was
forecasted backwards to estimate the x-intercepts used in calculations for Fluoride concentration in
contaminated sample.

Trial Two ISE Data y = 0.675x + 0.4859

R² = 0.9999
1.2

0.8
10 (-Ecell/59.16)

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
-0.2
Mass of Standard Fluoride Added (g)

Figure 2. Visualization of data from Table 3. Data points were used to produce a trendline which was
forecasted backwards to estimate the x-intercepts used in calculations for Fluoride concentration in
contaminated sample.
 Trial Three ISE Data y = 0.6839x + 0.4915
R² = 0.9999
1.2

0.8
10 (-Ecell/59.16)

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
-0.2
Mass of Standard Fluoride Added (g)

Figure 3. Visualization of data from Table 4. Data points were used to produce a trendline which was
forecasted backwards to estimate the x-intercepts used in calculations for Fluoride concentration in
contaminated sample.

Utilized Data from Figure [1-3] (x-intercepts)

Trial #1 0.7096 ±.0025g 0.96 %RSD
Trial #2 0.7198 ±.0065g 0.61 %RSD
Trial #3 0.7186 ±.0070g 0.36 %RSD
Average 0.7160 ±.0057g 0.80 %RSD
Table 5. Data extrapolated from Figures [1-3] that was used to calculate the
concentration of fluoride in the contaminated seawater sample. Uncertainty
was calculated by linear regression for each trial. Uncertainty for the average
was propagated from each trials’ individual uncertainty.

Composition of NaF Standard

Mass NaFs (g) 4.61 ±0.01
Molar Mass NaF (g/mol) 41.99
Purity (%) 99.00
Mass Standard Solution (kg) 2.00 ±0.001
Determined Concentration F- (ppm) 1032.56 ±5.63 0.55 %RSD
Table 6. Data given for the composition of NaF standard used in Standard
Addition procedure. The concentration was calculated from the data in rows in
Table 6.1-4.

Mass Data
Average Mass of ERP Aliquot (NaFStandard) (g) 0.1984±0.0005
Mass of Contaminated Seawater Trial #1 (g) 101.47±0.01
Mass of Contaminated Seawater Trial #2 (g) 101.85±0.01
Mass of Contaminated Seawater Trial #3 (g) 101.20±0.01
Table 7. The mass data used for the Standard Addition procedure.
Mass of a single aliquot was determined by calibration of ERP
 Discussion

The aim of this report was to demonstrate the fluoride content in a contaminated sea water

solution using an ion selective electrode (Pasco). Using the method of standard addition with an

Eppendorf repeating pipette and standard NaF, calibration of the Eppendorf repeating pipette per

2ml aliquot provided an average mass of 0.1984±0.0005g with a % RSD of 0.23%. This

demonstrated consistent readings for fluoride concentration across the three trials produced.

Standard addition depends highly on the response based off no addition of fluoride. The method

of standard addition compensates for matrix effects in solution. Determination of the NaF

standard fluoride content was found to be 1032.56 ±5.63 ppm with a %RSD of 0.55%. Amount

of NaF added was plotted against 10-Ecell/59.16. LINEST function in excel was utilized to perform

linear regression for determination of the slope and x-intercept values. Assessing the r2 values

associated with the plotted data in Figure 1, 2, and 3, the data fits well to the straight line. From

figures 1,2, and 3, the x-intercepts of the plots averaged out to 0.7160 ±.0057g with a %RSD of

0.80%. Propagation of uncertainty for the x-intercept was calculated using Harris Equation 5.10.

The x-intercepts represented the mass of standard solution containing equal amount of fluoride

as the contaminated seawater solution. Utilization of the Nernst equation provided the basis for

calculation of fluoride content. Nonetheless, the Nernst equation is temperature dependent. The

average temperature measured across our trials was 23.0°C. Through rederivation of the Nernst

(𝑥−𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡) 𝐶𝐹−,𝐶𝑆𝑊
equation, we utilize equation 11 = . From equation 11, the
𝑀𝑐𝑠𝑤 𝐶𝐹−,𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑

fluoride content in contaminated seawater was determined to be 7.28±0.13 ppm with a %RSD of

1.74%.