This learning module provides an introduction to acid-base titrimetry that is suitable for an introductory course in analytical chemistry. It is assumed that students are comfortable with stoichiometric calculations, particularly as they apply to the reactions of acids and bases during a titration, and that they appreciate the difference between a titration's equivalence point and its end point. The module consists of five investigations:
- Investigation 1: Titration of a Strong Acid or Strong Base
- Investigation 2: Titration of a Monoprotic Weak Acid or Weak Base
- Investigation 3: Titration of a Diprotic Weak Acid or Weak Base
- Investigation 4: Titration of a Mixture of Weak Acids or Weak Bases
- Investigation 5: Practice Problems--Designing Titrations
The learning module is programmed in R (www.r-project.org) using the Shiny package, which allows for interactive features. Each investigation includes a brief introduction and some suggestions of things to explore and/or questions to answer. The controls, which consist of a combination of radio buttons and sliders, allow the user to choose the chemical form of the analyte and, by default, the titrant, along with their concentrations, and, where appropriate, to specify pKa or pKb values. Additional controls are available to adjust the limits for the volume axis and to overlay the pH range for selected indicators. The resulting titration curve is updated with each change in a control's value.
You can launch the learning module from R using the Shiny package by typing
shiny::runGitHub("TitrationApp","dtharvey")
in the console.