CHEMISTRY 11 Acid-Base Titration FULL FORMAL LAB Toombs
Acid/Base Chemistry: Titration Lab
THE FINAL FORMAL LAB ACTIVITY of the Chemistry 11 Course
What is a Titration?
A titration is an analytical procedure used to determine the accurate concentration of a sample by
reacting it with a standard solution. One type of titration uses a neutralization reaction, in which an
acid and a base react to produce a salt and water:
In equation 1, the acid is HCl (hydrochloric acid) and the base is NaOH (sodium hydroxide).
When the acid and base react, they form NaCl (sodium chloride), which is also known as table salt.
The titration proceeds until the equivalence point is reached, where the number of moles of
acid (H+) is equal to the number of moles of base (OH -). The moles of acid and base are related by
the stoichiometry of the balanced equation. This equivalence point is usually marked by observing a
colour change in an added indicator. The moment where the colour of the indicator changes is called
the endpoint.
In a titration, the standard solution (of known concentration) is in a buret, which is a piece of
glassware used to measure the volume of solution to a great degree of accuracy. The solution that you
are titrating (of unknown concentration, but the volume is accurately measured) is in an Erlenmeyer
flask, which should be large enough to accommodate both your sample and the standard solution you
are adding.
