Question

Consider the following situation. You titrate 5.00 mL of vinegar brand XXX with 0.100 M sodium hydroxide.

When you have released all the sodium hydroxide from the buret (50.00 mL), the solution in the Erlenmeyer
still has not turned pink. For your next titration, how can you change the procedure so that less sodium
hydroxide will be needed to titrate the vinegar? Assume that you performed the titration correctly.

Answer 1

To reduce the amount of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) needed to titrate vinegar, you can use a higher concentration of NaOH solution, decrease the volume of vinegar, and use a different indicator.

Step-by-step explanation:

A titration is a technique where a solution of known concentration is used to determine the concentration of an unknown solution.

To reduce the amount of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) needed to titrate the vinegar, you can make a few changes to the procedure:

1. Use a higher concentration of NaOH solution. Instead of using a 0.100 M NaOH solution, you can use a more concentrated NaOH solution, such as 0.500 M or 1.000 M. This will require less NaOH to neutralize the vinegar.
2. Decrease the volume of vinegar. Instead of titrating 5.00 mL of vinegar, you can titrate a smaller volume, such as 2.00 mL or 3.00 mL. This will reduce the amount of NaOH needed.
3. Use a different indicator. Phenolphthalein is commonly used as an indicator in acid-base titrations, but it may not be sensitive enough to detect the color change in this particular titration. You can try using a different indicator that is more sensitive to smaller amounts of NaOH.

By making these changes, you can decrease the amount of NaOH needed to titrate the vinegar.