Strong titration curves

Titrating Strong Acids and Strong Bases For our first titration curve let s consider the titration of 50.0 mb of 0.100 M HCl with 0.200 M NaOH. For the reaction of a strong base with a strong acid the only equilibrium reaction of importance is... 

The approach that we have worked out for the titration of a monoprotic weak acid with a strong base can be extended to reactions involving multiprotic acids or bases and mixtures of acids or bases. As the complexity of the titration increases, however, the necessary calculations become more time-consuming. Not surprisingly, a variety of algebraic and computer spreadsheet approaches have been described to aid in constructing titration curves. 

This approach can be used to sketch titration curves for other acid-base titrations including those involving polyprotic weak acids and bases or mixtures of weak acids and bases (Figure 9.8). Figure 9.8a, for example, shows the titration curve when titrating a diprotic weak acid, H2A, with a strong base. Since the analyte is... 

Figure 9.8b shows a titration curve for a mixture consisting of two weak acids HA and HB. Again, there are two equivalence points. In this case, however, the equivalence points do not require the same volume of titrant because the concentration of HA is greater than that for HB. Since HA is the stronger of the two weak acids, it reacts first thus, the pH before the first equivalence point is controlled by the HA/A buffer. Between the two equivalence points the pH reflects the titration of HB and is determined by the HB/B buffer. Finally, after the second equivalence point, the excess strong base titrant is responsible for the pH. 

Where Is the Equivalence Point We have already learned how to calculate the equivalence point for the titration of a strong acid with a strong base, and for the titration of a weak acid with a strong base. We also have learned to sketch a titration curve with a minimum of calculations. Can we also locate the equivalence point without performing any calculations The answer, as you may have guessed, is often yes ... 

The principal limitation to using a titration curve to locate the equivalence point is that an inflection point must be present. Sometimes, however, an inflection point may be missing or difficult to detect, figure 9.9, for example, demonstrates the influence of the acid dissociation constant, iQ, on the titration curve for a weak acid with a strong base titrant. The inflection point is visible, even if barely so, for acid dissociation constants larger than 10 , but is missing when is 10 k... 

Although not commonly used, thermometric titrations have one distinct advantage over methods based on the direct or indirect monitoring of plT. As discussed earlier, visual indicators and potentiometric titration curves are limited by the magnitude of the relevant equilibrium constants. For example, the titration of boric acid, ITaBOa, for which is 5.8 X 10 °, yields a poorly defined equivalence point (Figure 9.15a). The enthalpy of neutralization for boric acid with NaOlT, however, is only 23% less than that for a strong acid (-42.7 kj/mol... 

This method provides a reasonable estimate of the piQ, provided that the weak acid is neither too strong nor too weak. These limitations are easily appreciated by considering two limiting cases. For the first case let s assume that the acid is strong enough that it is more than 50% dissociated before the titration begins. As a result the concentration of HA before the equivalence point is always less than the concentration of A , and there is no point along the titration curve where [HA] = [A ]. At the other extreme, if the acid is too weak, the equilibrium constant for the titration reaction... 

Estimating the p/Cg for a weak acid from its titration curve with a strong base. 

A second approach for determining the piQ of an acid is to replot the titration curve in a linear form as a Gran plot. For example, earlier we learned that the titration of a weak acid with a strong base can be plotted in a linear form using the following equation... 

The following data were collected with an automatic titrator during the titration of a monoprotic weak acid with a strong base. Prepare normal, first-derivative, second-derivative, and Gran plot titration curves for this data, and locate the equivalence point for each. 

Calculate or sketch (or both) the titration curves for 50.0 ml of a 0.100 M solution of a monoprotic weak acid (pfQ = 8) with 0.1 M strong base in (a) water and (b) a non-aqueous solvent with ffg = 10 . You may assume that the change in solvent does not affect the weak acid s pfQ. 

The acidity of a water sample is determined by titrating to fixed end points of 3.7 and 8.3, with the former providing a measure of the concentration of strong acid, and the latter a measure of the combined concentrations of strong acid and weak acid. Sketch a titration curve for a mixture of 0.10 M HCl and 0.10 M H2CO3 with 0.20 M strong base, and use it to justify the choice of these end points. 

In the discussion of the relative acidity of carboxylic acids in Chapter 1, the thermodynamic acidity, expressed as the acid dissociation constant, was taken as the measure of acidity. It is straightforward to determine dissociation constants of such adds in aqueous solution by measurement of the titration curve with a pH-sensitive electrode (pH meter). Determination of the acidity of carbon acids is more difficult. Because most are very weak acids, very strong bases are required to cause deprotonation. Water and alcohols are far more acidic than most hydrocarbons and are unsuitable solvents for generation of hydrocarbon anions. Any strong base will deprotonate the solvent rather than the hydrocarbon. For synthetic purposes, aprotic solvents such as ether, tetrahydrofuran (THF), and dimethoxyethane (DME) are used, but for equilibrium measurements solvents that promote dissociation of ion pairs and ion clusters are preferred. Weakly acidic solvents such as DMSO and cyclohexylamine are used in the preparation of strongly basic carbanions. The high polarity and cation-solvating ability of DMSO facilitate dissociation... 

As the titration begins, mostly HAc is present, plus some H and Ac in amounts that can be calculated (see the Example on page 45). Addition of a solution of NaOH allows hydroxide ions to neutralize any H present. Note that reaction (2) as written is strongly favored its apparent equilibrium constant is greater than lO As H is neutralized, more HAc dissociates to H and Ac. As further NaOH is added, the pH gradually increases as Ac accumulates at the expense of diminishing HAc and the neutralization of H. At the point where half of the HAc has been neutralized, that is, where 0.5 equivalent of OH has been added, the concentrations of HAc and Ac are equal and pH = pV, for HAc. Thus, we have an experimental method for determining the pV, values of weak electrolytes. These p V, values lie at the midpoint of their respective titration curves. After all of the acid has been neutralized (that is, when one equivalent of base has been added), the pH rises exponentially. 

Weak acid with a strong base. In the titration of a weak acid with a strong base, the shape of the curve will depend upon the concentration and the dissociation constant Ka of the acid. Thus in the neutralisation of acetic acid (Ka— 1.8 x 10-5) with sodium hydroxide solution, the salt (sodium acetate) which is formed during the first part of the titration tends to repress the ionisation of the acetic acid still present so that its conductance decreases. The rising salt concentration will, however, tend to produce an increase in conductance. In consequence of these opposing influences the titration curves may have minima, the position of which will depend upon the concentration and upon the strength of the weak acid. As the titration proceeds, a somewhat indefinite break will occur at the end point, and the graph will become linear after all the acid has been neutralised. Some curves for acetic acid-sodium hydroxide titrations are shown in Fig. 13.2(h) clearly it is not possible to fix an accurate end point. 

Weak acids with weak bases. The titration of a weak acid and a weak base can be readily carried out, and frequently it is preferable to employ this procedure rather than use a strong base. Curve (c) in Fig. 13.2 is the titration curve of 0.003 M acetic acid with 0.0973 M aqueous ammonia solution. The neutralisation curve up to the equivalence point is similar to that obtained with sodium hydroxide solution, since both sodium and ammonium acetates are strong electrolytes after the equivalence point an excess of aqueous ammonia solution has little effect upon the conductance, as its dissociation is depressed by the ammonium salt present in the solution. The advantages over the use of strong alkali are that the end point is easier to detect, and in dilute solution the influence of carbon dioxide may be neglected. 

Mixture of a strong add and a weak add with a strong base. Upon adding a strong base to a mixture of a strong acid and a weak acid (e.g. hydrochloric and acetic acids), the conductance falls until the strong acid is neutralised, then rises as the weak acid is converted into its salt, and finally rises more steeply as excess alkali is introduced. Such a titration curve is shown as S in Fig. 13.2(d). 

Determination of iron(III) in the presence of aluminium. Iron(III) (concentration ca 50 mg per 100 mL) can be determined in the presence of up to twice the amount of aluminium by photometric titration with EDTA in the presence of 5-sulphosalicylic acid (2 per cent aqueous solution) as indicator at pH 1.0 at a wavelength of 510 nm. The pH of a strongly acidic solution may be adjusted to the desired value with a concentrated solution of sodium acetate about 8-10 drops of the indicator solution are required. The spectrophotometric titration curve is of the form shown in Fig. 17.23. 

Below is the titration curve for the neutralization of 25 mL of a monoprotic acid with a strong base. Answer the following questions about the reaction and explain your reasoning in each case, (a) Is the acid strong or weak (b) What is the initial hydronium ion concentration of the acid (c) What is K, for the acid (d) What is the initial concentration of the... 

The titration of a solution of a weak acid with a solution of a strong base is shown graphically in Figure 18-4. This titration curve has four distinct regions, each characterized by different major species ... 

C18-0142. The amine group of an amino acid readily accepts a proton, and the protonated form of an amino acid can be viewed as a diprotic acid. The p Zg values for serine (H2 NCHRCO2 H, i = CH2 OH) are p ra(H3 N"") =9.1 and p (002 H) - 2.2. (a) What is the chemical formula of the species that forms when serine dissolves in pure water (b) If this species is titrated with strong acid, what reaction occurs (c) 10.00 mL of 1.00 M HCl is added to 200. mL of 0.0500 M serine solution. This mixture is then titrated with 0.500 M NaOH. Draw the titration curve, indicating the pH at various stages of this titration. 

Coefficients and standard deviation,s, of the least-squares second-degree polynomial representing the titration curve of PGA with different strong bases at 298 K. 

Attention is secondly focused on Figure 6.5 (B) which represents the titration curve of a weak acid against a strong base. The poor dissociation of the weak acid is reflected in the initial conductivity being low. The addition of alkali results in the formation of highly ionized sodium acetate and the conductance of the solution begins to increase. 

It must be realized that the acidity of an acidic solution, expressed by its pH, is a physico-chemical property, which in fact (see calculations on pp. 83-85) represents a resultant of the identity and concentration of the acid even the overall pH height of the titration curve is still influenced by the concentrations of a strong acid, but for a weak acid that curve height, especially its h.n.pH value, forms a fairly reliable identity indication. 

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