Carrying out titrations

• Procedure for carrying out a titration

  1. Transfer 25 cm³ of sodium hydroxide solution into a conical flask

  2. Add 5 drops of indicator (e.g. methyl orange) to the alkali

  3. Place conical flask on a white tile

  4. Fill a burette with sulfuric acid

  5. Add acid to the alkali until the solution is neutral (colour change from yellow to permanently red)

  6. Read the volume of acid added from the burette (at the bottom of the meniscus)

  7. Repeat the titration until two readings are within 0.1 cm³

  8. Take the mean of the two readings
• Titration


  A procedure to determine the concentration of an acid or alkali by neutralization
• Neutralization reaction


  Reaction between an acid and an alkali to form a salt and water
• Indicator


  A substance that changes colour at a specific pH, used to determine when neutralization is complete
• Burette


  A laboratory instrument used to accurately measure and add small volumes of liquid
• Meniscus


  The curved upper surface of a liquid in a container, caused by surface tension