Chemistry Name_____________

Lab - “Analysis of Baking Soda” Period ____________

De Stigter
20
Objective: To determine the mass of sodium bicarbonate (sodium hydrogen carbonate) in a sample
of baking soda using stoichiometry.

Safety: Safety glasses and aprons must be worn at all times during this lab!!! Using acids and
bases!

Materials:
-baking soda -scoop -pH sensor (optional)
-balance -3 plastic cups -pipets of HCl, NaOH, and bromothymol blue

Procedure:
Prepare and analyze a sample of baking soda. Write information on a separate sheet of paper for
references.

1. Measure the mass of a clean, dry plastic cup or test tube. Record it’s mass in grams here:
______________ grams

2. Using a scoop, add a small amount of baking soda (about 1.0 grams) to your cup. Weigh your
cup again. What is the mass of your cup with baking soda in it?
______________ grams

3. Fill three pipets with HCl about ¾ full and place into a clean dry cup. Measure the mass in
grams of the HCl and cup.
______________ grams

4. Transfer the contents of the three HCl pipets to the cup containing baking soda. Swirl until the
fizzing stops. Wait 5 – 10 minutes to be sure the reaction is complete. Measure the mass of the
three empty HCl pipets in their cup again.
______________ grams

5. Add 5 drops of indicator to the plastic cup. The solution should turn yellow in the presence of
acid and blue in a base. If it turned blue, your lab group will need to add more HCl.

6. Fill two pipets with NaOH about ¾ full in a clean dry cup and measure the mass of the system
in grams.
______________ grams

7. Add NaOH slowly to the baking soda + HCl mixture until the yellow color just disappears to a
greenish color. Remember to add drops slowly and look for evidence of a color change.
Measure the mass of the NaOH pipets in their cup again.
______________ grams
Analysis:
Using your experimental data, record the answers to the following questions.

1. Write a balanced equation for the reaction between baking soda (NaHCO3) and HCl. Water,
carbon dioxide and sodium chloride are formed.

2. Calculate the mass in grams of just the baking soda.

3. Calculate the total amount of millimoles of 1 M HCl. Note: Every gram of HCl contains 1
millimole. (Procedure 3 – Procedure 4) x 1.00 millimole/gram

4. Calculate the total millimoles of 0.5 M NaOH. Note: Every gram of NaOH) contains 0.5
millimoles. (Procedure 6 – Procedure 7) x 0.500 millimole/gram

5. Calculate the millimoles of HCl that reacted with the baking soda. Note: The NaOH measures
the amount of HCl that did not react. (Step 3 – Step 4)

6. Calculate the mass of the baking soda from the reaction data. (0.084 g / millimole x Step 5)

7. Calculate the percent error of the experiment.

(Step 2 – Step 6)
x 100
Step 2