TITRATION OF A WEAK ACID

Stephanie M. Westhuis
Lab #8
March 7, 2011

TITRATION OF A WEAK ACID

Introduction: The titration of a weak acid with a standard base can be used to
determine the ionization constant and the equivalent weight for a
monoprotic acid. By using a pH meter, the buffer effect of the acid
and its conjugate base can be calculated by plotting the pH of the
weak acid against the degree of neutralization of the acid by the
standard base. The resulting titration curve of this relationship will
follow the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation: pH = pKa + log
[A-]

[HA]

Procedure: • A 0.15 sample of acid was taken and recorded.

• The acid sample was added to 75 ml of deionized water in a 100
mL beaker.
• A magnetic stir bar was then placed into the solution which was
placed on a magnetic stirring motor.
• Using a clamp, a pH probe attached to a ph meter was also placed
in the solution using a clamp to avoid contact with the magnetic stir
bar.
• When the meter was turned on and stabilized, the pH reading was
recorded as the reading with zero milliliters of base added.
• A burette was then prepared using 30mL of the standardized base.
The concentration of the base was recorded.
• The burette was mounted so that the tip of the burette was just
inside the beaker containing the acid solution.
• Once the burette was in place, base was added in one milliliter
increments to the solution and pH readings were taken until 9
milliliters was reached. Base was added in 0.5 milliliter increments
until 11 milliliters was reached, followed by the resumption of 1.0
milliliter increments until 19 milliliters was reached. All of the reading
were placed in a chart.
• The results were plotted and graphed and a titration curve was
produced comparing the system pH value to the volume of base in
milliliters.

Results: Tables 1 and 2 illustrates the experimental results:

Table 1: MILLILITERS OF BASE vs. pH OF THE SOLUTION

mL of pH mL of base pH
base

0 3.50 10.5 6.27

1 3.92 11 7.57

2 4.17 12 10.47

3 4.38 13 11.15
 4 4.57 14 11.38

5 4.71 15 11.40

6 4.87 16 11.66

7 5.06 17 11.73

8 5.23 18 11.79

9 5.47 19 11.84

9.5 5.64

10 5.90

∆ mL of ∆ pH ∆ mL of ∆ pH
base base

0 ---- 0.5 .37

1.0 .42 0.5 1.3

1.0 .25 1.0 2.9

1.0 .21 1.0 .68

1.0 .19 1.0 .23

1.0 .14 1.0 .02

1.0 .16 1.0 .26

1.0 .19 1.0 .07

1.0 .17 1.0 .06

1.0 .24 1.0 .05

0.5 .17

0.5 .26

The results of the titration curve showed that as more of the

standardized base
(titrant) was added to the solution, more of the weak acid was
converted to its
conjugate base. During this process, a buffer system was formed and
the pH of
the system followed the Henderson-Hasselbalch relationship as shown
in this
graph:
 The titration curve evidences the fact that the weak acid is
monoprotic due to the data
plots on the graph creating only one plateau. The pH rises normally
at first, but as it
reaches the zone where the solution seems to be buffered, the slope
levels out. After
this zone, the pH rises sharply through its equivalence point and
levels out again.

There are two plots of significance that are marked on the graph. The
first is the half
equivalence point (or volume). This point occurs halfway through the
buffered region
where the pH barely changes as the base is added. The half
equivalence volume is when just enough base is added for half of the
acid to be converted to the conjugate base. When this happens, the
concentration of H+ ions equals the Ka value of the acid and:
pH = pKa

Therefore, pKa = pH =
 The second is the end point. Once the acid has been neutralized, the
end value is a
point above pH=7. When the weak acid is neutralized, the solution
that remains is
basic because the acid’s conjugate base remains in the solution.