Acidimetry and alkalimetry are two common types of titrations used to determine the concentration of acidic or basic solutions, respectively.
They involve the use of an acid or a base as the titrant to react with the analyte, which is either a base or an acid, respectively.
1. Acidimetry:
Acidimetry is a titration process that involves the determination of the concentration of a basic (alkaline) solution by titrating it with a standard solution of a strong acid (the titrant).
The acid neutralizes the base until the equivalence point is reached, at which point the moles of H+ ions from the acid are equal to the moles of OH- ions from the base.
The endpoint of the titration is usually detected using a suitable indicator, which changes color at a specific pH
Illustration of Acidimetry
Example:
A common example of acidimetry is the titration of a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution with a hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution of known concentration.
The chemical reaction is as follows:
NaOH (aq) + HCl (aq) → NaCl (aq) + H2O (l)
2. Alkalimetry:
Alkalimetry is a titration process that involves the determination of the concentration of an acidic solution by titrating it with a standard solution of a strong base (the titrant).
The base neutralizes the acid until the equivalence point is reached, at which point the moles of OH- ions from the base are equal to the moles of H+ ions from the acid.
The endpoint of the titration is typically detected using a suitable indicator, which changes color at a specific pH.
Alkalimetry
Example:
A common example of alkalimetry is the titration of a hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution with a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution of known concentration.
The chemical reaction is as follows:
HCl (aq) + NaOH (aq) → NaCl (aq) + H2O (l)