Question

27.5 mL of a 0.235 M potassium hydroxide solution is required to completely react with 35.0 mL of a sulfuric acid solution. Provide the balanced chemical equation for this reaction and determine the concentration of the sulfuric acid solution.

Answer 1

Answer: The balanced equation is
`2KOH + H_(2)SO_(4) \rightarrow K_(2)SO_(4) + 2H_(2)O` and the concentration of the sulfuric acid solution is 0.184 M.

Step-by-step explanation:

Given:
`V_(1)` = 27.5 mL,
`M_(1)` = 0.235 M

`V_(2)` = 35.0 mL,
`M_(2)` = ?

Formula used to calculate the concentration of the sulfuric acid solution is as follows.

`M_(1)V_(1) = M_(2)V_(2)`

Substitute the values into above formula as follows.

`M_(1)V_(1) = M_(2)V_(2)\\0.235 M * 27.5 mL = M_(2) * 35.0 mL\\M_(2) = (0.235 M * 27.5 mL)/(35.0 mL)\\= 0.184 M`

The given chemical equation for given reaction is as follows.

`KOH + H_(2)SO_(4) \rightarrow K_(2)SO_(4) + H_(2)O`

Number of atoms on reactant side are as follows.

• K = 1
• H = 2
• 
  `SO_(4)` = 1
• O = 1

Number of atoms on product side are as follows.

• K = 2
• H = 2
• 
  `SO_(4)` = 1
• O = 1

To balance this equation, multiply KOH by 2 on reactant side and multiply
`H_(2)O` by 2. Hence, the equation can be rewritten as follows.

`2KOH + H_(2)SO_(4) \rightarrow K_(2)SO_(4) + 2H_(2)O`

Now, number of atoms on reactant side are as follows.

• K = 2
• H = 4
• 
  `SO_(4)` = 1
• O = 2

Number of atoms on product side are as follows.

• K = 2
• H = 4
• 
  `SO_(4)` = 1
• O = 2

Since, there are same number of atoms of both reactant and products. Therefore, the equation is now balanced.

Thus, we can conclude that the balanced equation is
`2KOH + H_(2)SO_(4) \rightarrow K_(2)SO_(4) + 2H_(2)O` and the concentration of the sulfuric acid solution is 0.184 M.