Brigid O’Brien

September 25th, 2017

Chemistry
Using Indicators and Known Solutions to find the pH of Unknown Solutions

Task Statement:
The objective of the Chemistry Lab Quantitative Analysis of Solutions to Measure pH was to use
five given solutions with known pHs as well as nine indicators in order to determine the pH’s of
Unknown solutions A, B, C, D, and E. To execute this test, I looked at each indicator solution, these
including: phenolphthalein, bromothymol blue, methyl orange, methyl red, thymol phthalein, bromcresol
green, alizarin yellow R, thymol blue, and phenol red. I then took each of these indicators and mixed them
in each of the known pH solutions, these including pH2, pH4, pH7, pH10, and pH12 to distinguish the
color each indicator made each known pH solution. Analyzing this information, I discerned what indicator
solution would help lead me to create my flow chart, and therefore was able to determine the pH of
almost every unknown solution.

Introduction:
When analyzing the data and content of this lab, it is clear that the tests carried out were
qualitative. Qualitative data, according to a user on socratic.org, is largely based off of the four senses
sight, smell, touch, sound. In this case, sight was the most prevalent sense for our experiment - our
looking at different colors was most helpful in finding the pH of the Unknown Solutions. Quantitative
data, on the other hand, is more focused on measurements, numbers, mathematics, and chemical
equations. There seems to be a consensus on the difference between qualitative and quantitative data
throughout the internet. Therefore, when tests are quantitative they are numerical, whereas qualitative is
based off of sight, smell, etc.
When working on our qualitative experiment, our objective was to find the pH of each Unknown
Solution. Thus, it is important to know what pH is. The abbreviation pH simply means ‘potential of
hydrogen.’ Wikipedia defines pH as “a numerical scale” on which chemists observe if a solution that has a
solvent of water - which is commonly known as an aqueous solution - is acidic or basic. A solution is
acidic if it has a higher concentration of hydrogen ions, and a solution is basic if it possesses a lower
concentration of hydrogen ions. A solution is neutral if it is neither acidic nor basic. If one were to look at
a pH scale, the pH level of 1 would be the most acidic, the pH level of 7 or 8 would be neutral, and the pH
level of 14 would be basic. As colors go, acidic is red which moves onto orange and yellow. Neutral is
green, which moves onto blue, and basic is purple. The Arrhenius concept of pH on chem.libretexts.org
states that, “acid-base reactions are characterized by acids, which dissociate in aqueous solution to form
hydrogen ions (H+) and bases, which form hydroxide (OH−) ions. Acids are defined as a compound or
element that releases hydrogen(H+) ions into the solution.” To find the pH of each Unknown Solution, it
was required that we use indicator solutions. An indicator solution, according to Wikipedia, is a
halochromic chemical compound - a material that changes color - that is used to find the pH of chemical
solutions visually (hence the colors that we analyzed in this experiment).

Results:
Table of data
FlowChart

To find the pH of
each unknown
substance, follow
through the flow
chart. Look at the
table: with
Phenolphthalein, is
the solution clear?
Then it has a pH of 2,
4, or 7. Is it pink?
Then it has a pH of
10 or 12. From there,
you need to narrow
down what the pH is
between those
numbers. Look at
either Bromcresol
Green (from clear) or
Alizarin Yellow R
(from pink) to see
what colors the
indicators created.
Observe what color
these indicators created for the unknown solutions (yellow, green, blue, orange, and red) and you are able
to see what the pH of each unknown is.
As seen above, I made a table of data for this series of experiments. I was able to test each known
solution with each indicator solution and see what color they produced. For example, I can see that
Phenolphthalein created a clear color for the particular solution with a pH of 2. As for the Unknown
Solutions, I was unfortunately not able to test every Indicator with each Unknown because of time
constraints. My partner and I had to quickly decide which Indicators to use for each unknown solution
since it would be very tedious to test each indicator with each unknown solution. Therefore, we chose
Phenolphthalein, Bromcresol Green, and Alizarin R Yellow (the bolded Methyl Red is a typo, disregard
it). The reason we chose these three indicators is because of their effects on the previously known
solutions. As you can see, Phenolphthalein created all clear and pink, Alizarin R Yellow created all
yellow, orange, and red, and so on. We chose these indicators because they had clear color differences. We
then tested each of these indicators on the Unknown Substances, and our color results can be seen on the
table.

Analysis:
pH of Unknowns A, B, C, & D
Unknown A: pH of 4
Unknown B: pH of 2
Unknown C: pH of 10
Unknown D: pH of 7
Unknown E: pH of 10?

As seen from the Methods section of this Lab Report, I was able to find the pH of Unknown A, B,
C, D, and E with the table of data and flow chart I made. However, it is also clear that Unknown Solution
E is not completely accurate. Since it was difficult to distinguish between orange and yellow, Unknown
E’s pH may not be completely accurate (see flow chart, flow chart explanation, and data table for
evidence). Based off of the information in the introduction, Unknown A is fairly neutral, Unknown B is
basic, Unknown C is very acidic, Unknown D is fairly acidic, and Unknown E is possibly basic as well
(assuming these unknowns are accurate).
According to the University of Arizona website (atmo.arizona.edu/students/courselinks),
Phenolphthalein and Alizarin Yellow R both changed colors at the pH value I would expect. In my graph,
pH’s 2, 4, and 7 were all clear for Phenolphthalein, while pH’s 10 and 12 were both pink. The list
provided by University of Arizona backs up my graphs claims in saying that when Phenolphthalein is at a
low pH it is clear, and when it is at a high pH is it “fuschia.” This goes for Alizarin Yellow R as well - the
graph shows that all low pH’s were yellow, and high pH’s were orange and red. The University of Arizona
list backs this claim up as well.

Continue onto next page…

Different FlowChart
!

Hypothetical Data Set

pH of Unknowns A, B, C, & D - Based off of Flowchart and Hypothetical Data Set

Unknown A: pH of 2
Unknown B: pH of 4
Unknown C: pH of 7
Unknown D: pH of 10
Unknown E: pH of 12