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Phenolphathalein 2019.04.10

Kinetic of degradation of phenolphthalein in basic media works well as shown in the previous experiment.

Goal​

We want to measure the order of the reaction. In the literature, it is told that you are expected to use constant ionic force. But is this necessary ?

Let's check if we replace NaCl 0.3M by water to see if it yields to the same result.

Solutions​

  • solution A: NaOH 0.3M in water
  • solution B: water
  • solution C: phenolphthalein 3.02 g/L in MeOH / EtOH
ExperimentABC
14 mL0 mL40 µL
23 mL1 mL20 µL
32 mL2 mL20 µL
41 mL3 mL20 µL

Results​

Raw data for the 4 kinetics are attached in the corresponding documents:

The data were processed online on the following page.

An exponential regression has been applied for the 4 experiments for all the points having an absorbance over 0.3 and the following results are observed:

Experiment[NaOH]kr2
10.300 M0.28780.99997
20.225 M0.19840.99998
30.150 M0.12170.99997
40.075 M0.04600.99959

What is r2 ???​

NaOH regression​

NaOHregression.svg

  • y = −0.03705 + 1.069 x
  • r2 = 0.9983

Even without constant ionic strength the results are still quite good. The slope is close to 1 despite the fact that it is far from passing through 0,0.