1.

TitleofExperiment:
StandardCurvesandVolumetricGlasswareLaboratory
2.Purpose:
ThepurposeofthisexperimentwastodeterminetheconcentrationofRed#40dyeinacommercialbeverageby
plottinganabsorbancevs.concentrationstandardcurve.

3.ExperimentalMethods:
TheexperimentalprocedureofthislabwasreferencedfromthelaboratoryhandoutExp#8StandardCurves
andVolumetricGlasswareLaboratorywithnomodifications.
4.DataandObservations(someCalculations):YourlabnotebookpagesaresubmittedtoyourTAbefore
leavingthelab.Whensubmittingthereport,thelabnotebookpagesareobtainedfromyourTAandstapledto
report.

Standard Curve for absorbance of red #40 vs.

concentration (mg/L)

5.Results(andadditionalCalculations):
Basedonthestandardcurve,
Sample
#6
#7

Concentration(mg/L)
6.15
15.1

Concentrationofdyeinthecommercialbeverage:
Sample#6
C1 V 1=C 2 V 2

C1 ( 10 ml )= 6.15

mg
(100 ml )
L

C1 =61.5 mg /L
Sample#7
C1 V 1=C 2 V 2

C1 ( 25 ml ) = 15.1

mg
( 100 ml )
L

C1 =60.4 mg/ L
6a.Discussion:
Theobjectiveofthislabwasmetsuccessfully,astheconcentrationofthecommercialbeveragewas
determined.Basedonthetwodilutedsamplesoftheunknownsolution(samples#6and#7),aswellasthe
absorbancevs.concentrationstandardcurve,theconcentrationofthissolutionwasfound.Thisvaluewas
61.5mg/Lbasedontheconcentrationofsample#6and60.4mg/Lbasedonsample#7.Themajorconcepts
emphasizedinthislaboratoryweretherelationshipbetweenabsorbanceandconcentration,aswellastheuse
ofastandardcurve.AccordingtoBeersLaw,theabsorbanceofasubstanceisdirectlyproportionaltoits
concentration.Thus,wecanconstructaplotofabsorbancevs.concentration,whichshouldproducealinear
model.Moreover,sincetheconcentrationsofsamples#0#5areknown,andtheirrespectiveabsorbencies
arefoundusingthespectrometer,astandardcurvecanbeplotted,whereintheconcentrationofanunknown
substance(withdeterminedabsorbance)canbefoundbyextrapolatingthedata.
6b.Conclusion:
Sincetheconcentrationofthecommercialbeveragewasdeterminedthroughdatafromthestandardcurve,
therewasadiscrepancybetweenthecalculatedconcentrationbasedonsamples#6and#7(61.5vs.60.4
mg/L).Dataextrapolatedfromthestandardcurvewasbasedontheconcentrationandabsorbanceof6
samples.Amoreaccuratestandardcurvecouldbeobtainedifagreateramountofsampleswereused.This
way,outliersmakelessofadifferenceandtheconcentrationofsamples#6and#7wouldbemoreaccurate,
andtheconcentrationofthecommercialbeveragecouldbedeterminedwithagreateramountofprecision.
Otherwise,datacollectedinthisexperimenthasahighdegreeofquality,aslongasthedilutionsare
performedwithminimalerrorandthespectrometeriscalibratedcorrectly.

7.PostLabQuestions:
1.Thewaterblankservesasareferenceforthestandardcurve.Itisknownthattheabsorbanceofwateris
zeroandtheconcentrationofthereddyeindistilledwateris0mg/L.Therefore,thewaterblanksample
servesastheoriginofthestandardcurve.
2.Theindependentvariableisthevariablethatyoucancontrol,whilethedependentvariableisthevariable
inwhichthequantitativechangeismeasured,basedonthechangeintheindependentvariable.Inthiscase,
theindependentvariableisconcentrationwhilethedependentvariableisabsorbance.
8.AdditionalReferences:
Chem01LaboratoryHandout.Exp#8StandardCurvesandVolumetricGlasswareLaboratory.Tufts
University.Fall2015