Experiment No: Date:

DETERMINATION OF ORGANIC CARBON CONTENT IN SOIL

Aim
To determine the percentage of organic carbon content in the given soil sample.

Principle
Organic carbon is determined by sulphuric acid and aqueous potassium dichromate mixture. After the
complete oxidation, the unused or residual dichromate is titrated against Ferrous Ammonium Sulphate
(FAS). The used dichromate which is the difference between the original and residual dichromate,
gives a measure of the organic carbon content of soil.

2K2Cr2O7 + 8H2SO4 2K2SO4 + 2Cr2 (SO4)3 + 6(O)

2Cr2O72- +3C + 16H+ 4Cr3+ + 8H2O + 3CO2

1 ml of 1M Dichromate solution is equivalent to 3 mg of carbon .

Reagents required

K2Cr2O7 solution:
Dissolve 49.024 grams of dry potassium dichromate in 800 ml of distilled water and then the volume
was made up to 1 litre.
Concentrated H2SO4:
98% of concentrated H2SO4 was prepared by adding 0.54 ml of H2SO4 in 0.8 ml of water.
Ferrous Ammonium Sulphate (FAS):
The FAS solution was prepared by dissolving 78.390 grams of FAS powder in 50 ml of concentrated
H2SO4 and makeup the volume for 1 litre by deionized distilled water. The burette solution was
titrated using Ferroin indicator.

Apparatus required
Conical flasks – 5, Weight balance, Measuring jar, Beaker, Burette, Tongs.

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Procedure

● 7.5 ml of concentrated H2SO4 (98%) and 5 ml of 1M K2Cr2O7 was added in a known amount
of soil (0.2g) sample to oxidise carbon present in soil samples.
● The oxidised sample was heated using at 140-150 OC for 30 minutes using oven in order to
complete the reaction and then the sample was allowed to cool.
● Finally, the working solution was titrated against 0.2M FAS solution until the colour turned
from green to brown. Ferroin was used as indicator.
● The above procedure was followed for preparing blank solution.

Formula used
titre value ×0.003 × volume of K 2 Cr 2O 7 ×100
% Organic Content =
Sample weig h t

T
Where titre value = 1−
S

Where T = Sample and S = blank

Result

Inference

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Observations and Calculations
Weight of soil taken =
Volume of K2Cr2O7 =
Volume of concentrated H2SO4 =

Table 4.1 Volume of 0.2 FAS required to quantify the amount of oxygen consumed by the water

Sl.No. Sample Burette Reading (ml) Volume of

Initial Final
(grams) FAS (ml)
1. Soil 1
2. Soil 2
3. Soil 1
4. Soil 2
5. Blank

Calculations
T
Sample 1.Titre Value = [1− ]=
S

titre value ×0.003 × volume of K 2 Cr 2O 7 ×100

% Organic Content =
Sample weight

T
Sample 2.Titre Value = [1− ]=
S

titre value ×0.003 × volume of K 2 Cr 2O 7 ×100

% Organic Content =
Sample weight

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