DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Analysis/Conclusion:

 

The purpose of this lab was to determine the CaCO3-content of a anti-acid pill and compare with the nominal value of a generic. During this lab, the CaCO3-content of a anti-acid pill was calculated. An automatic titrator and data collection system were used to generate titration curves, and thus calculate the moles of CaCO3, which could be used to determine the percent content of CaCO3 in each pill. The titration curves of three different samples were plotted on a graph of pH vs. volume, and the equivalence points of each curve were used to determine the CacO3-content of the anti-acid pill. Upon determining the average, the CaCO3-content was found to be 34.7%. The results of this lab were rather accurate, as the calculated average CaCO3-content came close to the expected content of 38.5%.

 

Although the results of this lab were rather accurate, as in any lab, the possibility for error is inevitable. For example, when transferring the anti-acid pill from the weighing dish to the Erlenmeyer flask, some of the powder may have not been completely washed fromt the weighing dish. Such error, would result in inaccurate measurements for each sample, resulting in falsefied data. Also, since NaOH reacts very easily with air, if the NaOH container was left open during preparation or if there was a long period of time in between measuring the NaOH and mixing it with water, error was likely to have occurred. Also, if the data collection system was not set-up properly, an inaccurate titration curve would be generated, resulting in the incorrect calculation of CaCO3-content. In future labs, I would emphasize the importance of carefully transferring samples, not exposing the NaOH to air, and the proper set-up of data collection systems, in order to ensure accurate results. I would also increase the number of trials for this lab, in order to achieve more plentiful and accurate data.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.