Chemistry

Lab Report
Experiment Number 4
CHEMY 102
Rafiuddin Mohammed Mohiuddin
( (
ID number: 20135673
Section 05
Name: Rafiuddin Mohammed ID: 20135673 CHEMY 102, Section 05

Chemistry Lab Report
Experiment No. 4
HYDROLYSIS OF SALTS AND THE ACTION
OF A BUFFER SOLUTION

Aim:
The purpose of this experiment is to learn about the concept of
hydrolysis and to gain familiarity with the behavior of buffer
solutions.










PTO
Results and Calculations:
Experiment 4: HYDROLYSIS OF SALTS AND THE ACTION OF
A BUFFER SOLUTION

REPORT SHEET

A. Hydrolysis of Salts

Table I


Solution
(0.1 M)
Ion expected
to hydrolyze
Spectator
ion(s)

NaCl

---
Na
+
, Cl
-

Na
2
CO
3

CO
3
2
Na
+


NaC
2
H
3
O
2

C
2
H
3
O
2
-
Na
+

NH
4
Cl

NH
4
+
Cl
-


ZnCl
2

Zn
2+
Cl
-


KAl(SO
4
)
2


Al
3+


K
+
, SO
4
2





Table II

Solution pH [H
+
] [OH]
Color of the Indicator
Phenolphthalein
H
2
O (unboiled) 6.96 1.1 x 10
-7
0.9 x 10
-7
Colorless
H
2
O (boiled) 7.04 0.9 x 10
-7
1.1 x 10
-7
Colorless
NaCl 7.28 0.5 x 10
-7
2 x 10
-7
Colorless
Na
2
CO
3
11.85 1.4 x 10
-12
7.1 x 10
-3
Pink
NaC
2
H
3
O
2
7.55 0.3 x 10
-7
3.3 x 10
-7
Colorless
NH
4
Cl 5.86 13.8 x 10
-7
7.2 x 10
-9
Colorless
ZnCl
2
5.52 3.0 x 10
-6
3.3 x 10
-9
Colorless
KAl(SO
4
)
2
2.96 1.1 x 10
-3
9.1 x 10
-12
Colorless




Table III

Solution
(0.1 M)
Net-ionic equation for
hydrolysis
Expression for equilibrium
constant (K
a
or K
b
)
Value of
K
a
or K
b


Na
2
CO
3

CO
3
-
(aq) + H
2
O HCO
3
-
(aq) + OH (aq) K
b
= [HCO
3
-
] [OH] / [CO
3
-
] K
b
= 5.0 x 10
-4

NaC
2
H
3
O
2


C
2
H
3
O
2
(aq) + H
2
O HC
2
H
3
O
2
(aq) + OH
(aq)

K
b
= [HC
2
H
3
O
2
] [OH] /
[C
2
H
3
O
2
]
K
b
= 1.1 x 10
-12


NH
4
Cl

NH
4
+
(aq) + H
2
O NH
3
(aq) + H
+
(aq) K
a
= [NH
3
] [H
+
] / [NH
4
+
] K
a
= 1.9 x 10
-11


ZnCl
2


Zn
2+
(aq) + H
2
O Zn(OH)
+
(aq) + H
+
(aq)

K
a
= [Zn(OH)
+
] [H
+
] / [Zn
2+
] K
a
= 9.0 x 10
-11


KAl(SO
4
)
2

Al[H
2
O]
6
3+
(aq) Al[H
2
O]
5
[OH
-
]
2+
(aq) +
H
+
(aq)
K
a
= [Al[H
2
O]
5
[OH
-
]
2+
] [H
+
] /
[Al[H
2
O]
6
3+
]
K
a
= 1.2 x 10
-5




B- The Action of a Buffer Solution


Table IV




Volume (total)
/ mL
pH on addition of
0.1 M NaOH to
pH on addition of
0.1 M HCl to
buffer pure water buffer pure water
0.0 7.46 7.60 7.44 7.20
1 drop 7.48 9.44 7.42 6.83
1.0 mL 7.56 11.36 7.31 2.92
5.0 mL 8.28 11.80 6.85 2.25


Discussion:
The experiment enlightens us to the reason behind the acidity or basicity of a
solution at the equivalence point. The reason is easily explicable by the
concept of hydrolysis.
The salt formed by the reaction between a strong acid and a strong base is a
neutral salt and does not undergo hydrolysis. This is why titration between a
strong acid and a strong base gives a neutral equivalence point. Similarly,
titration between a strong acid and a weak base OR a weak acid and a strong
base gives an acidic OR basic equivalence point because of the hydrolysis of
the cation OR anion of the respective salts.
Buffers are interesting solutions because of their resistance to high changes
in pH. They are found in various natural systems and are of great value even
in our own body.
These experiments, conducted to determine the acidity and basicity of the
various salts give values for their dissociation constants that are, at best,
gross approximations. This is because of the various errors involved that
include the presence of CO
2
in the atmosphere which dissolves in the
solutions and changes the pH, the inaccuracy of the pH meter in giving
readings, the improper cleaning of the containers in which the measurements
are taken, the possible incomplete immersion of the electrode in the solution,
etc.
The experiment could have been better conducted by using freshly prepared
solutions of the salts, using a fast and accurate pH meter, carefully making
the measurements, and cleaning the apparatus before each reading.

Conclusion:
Knowing the pH of a salt solution is an important aspect of various
processes and studying hydrolysis is consequently of significant importance.