Finding Ka and Pka Values of Bromothymol Blue with Spectrophotometry

1151 Words5 Pages
Finding Ka and pKa values of Bromothymol Blue with Spectrophotometry Lancaster Weld* Greg Maggard (*-Primary Author) There are numerous ways that chemists, and other scientists, find the value of equilibrium constants. In this experiment, the equilibrium constants Ka and pKa were determined using a spectrophotometer. In part one of the experiment, four cuvettes were prepared for part 2 of the experiment. In order to prepare these four cuvettes, 0.401g of NaH2PO4 and 0.400g of Na2HPO4 were placed in a 150 mL beaker. Next, 50 mL of distilled was placed into the 150 mL. Twenty drops of Bromothymol blue were added to the 150 mL beaker solution. The pH was then recorded. Five mL of this solution was transferred into three separate 100 mL beakers. In one of these beakers, 1 mL of HCl was added to the solution, making this the “Yellow” beaker. In one of the other two beakers, 1 mL of NaOH was added to the solution, making this the “Blue” beaker. In the last beaker, 1 mL of distilled water was added to the solution, making this the “Green” beaker. Three dry cuvettes were obtained and filled with the “Yellow,” “Blue,” and “Green” solutions respectively. One final cuvette was filled with only distilled water (i.e. the blank). In part two of the experiment, the absorbance for the “Yellow,” “Blue,” and “Green” solutions were recorded. A spectrophotometer is needed for this part of the lab. The spectrophotometer was set for 360 nm and the mode was changed to transmittance. The zero adjustment knob and 100% adjustment knob (using the blank) adjusted accordingly. The absorbance of each sample was measured at 360 nm. The wavelength was then set to 380 nm. The absorbance of each sample was calculated again after fixing the 100% adjustment knob to read 100. This process of increasing by 20 nm was repeated until 700 nm was reached, however two special wavelengths were also

More about Finding Ka and Pka Values of Bromothymol Blue with Spectrophotometry

Open Document