Question 4.13: USING A REDOX REACTION TO DETERMINE A SOLUTION’S CONCENTRATI...
USING A REDOX REACTION TO DETERMINE A SOLUTION’S CONCENTRATION
The concentration of an aqueous I_{3}^{-} solution can be determined by titration with aqueous sodium thiosulfate, Na_{2}S_{2}O_{3}, in the presence of a starch indicator, which turns from deep blue to colorless when all the I_{3}^{-} has reacted. What is the molar concentration of I_{3}^{-} in an aqueous solution if 24.55 mL of 0.102 M Na_{2}S_{2}O_{3} is needed for complete reaction with 10.00 mL of the I_{3}^{-} solution? The net ionic equation is
2 S_{2}O_{3}^{2-}(aq) + I_{3}^{-}(aq) → S_{4}O_{6}^{2-}(aq) + 3 I^{-}(aq)Learn more on how we answer questions.
The procedure is similar to that outlined in Figure 4.5. We first need to find the number of moles of thiosulfate ion used for the titration:
24.55 \cancel{mL} × \frac{1 \cancel{L}}{1000 \cancel{mL}} × \frac{0.102 mol S_{2}O_{3}^{2-}}{1 \cancel{L}} = 2.50 × 10^{-3} mol S_{2}O_{3}^{2-}According to the balanced equation, 2 mol of S_{2}O_{3}^{2-} ion react with 1 mol of I_{3}^{-} ion.
Thus, we can find the number of moles of I_{3}^{-} ion:
Knowing both the number of moles of mol) and the volume of I_{3}^{-} (2.25 × 10^{-3} mol) the I_{3}^{-} solution (10.00 mL) then lets us calculate molarity:
\frac{1.25 × 10^{-3} mol I_{3}^{-}}{10.00 \cancel{mL}} × \frac{10^{3} mL}{1 L} = 0.125 M
The molarity of the I_{3}^{-} solution is 0.125 M.
BALLPARK CHECK
According to the balanced equation, the amount of S_{2}O_{3}^{2-} needed for the reaction (2 mol) is twice the amount of I_{3}^{-} (1 mol). The titration results indicate that the volume of the S_{2}O_{3}^{2-} solution (24.55 mL) is a little over twice the volume of the I_{3}^{-} solution (10.00 mL). Thus, the concentrations of the two solutions must be about the sameapproximately 0.1 M.
The reddish I_{3}^{-} solution turns a deep blue color when it is added to a solution containing a small amount of starch.

