Experiment 10: TITRATION OF A

COLA PRODUCT
Purpose: The mass percent of phosphoric acid in a Cola product is to be determined.

Introduction: You might have heard of the claim that Coca-Cola takes the rust off of
nails. There is probably truth to it because of the acid content in the Cola. The acid
provides a taste that is both sweet and sour, and does not interfere with other tastes in the
drink. Phosphoric acid is the acid that is present in all Colas, but the percentage of
phosphoric acid may vary (they dont give out the Coke or Pepsi formula to just anyone!).
A similar experiment could be performed titrating unColas such as 7-Up, Sprite or Squirt.
In those sodas the acidity comes from citric acid. In this experiment you will titrate a
sample of a Cola product and use the information to determine the percent phosphoric acid
in the sample.

Colas are also carbonated beverages. The carbonation can produce some carbonic acid in the
Cola, which would affect your results. Therefore, to ensure that you are only titrating the
phosphoric acid you will use de-carbonated soda. This can easily be obtained by gently
heating the soda, or as you may already know, by rapidly shaking the bottle. It is also
important that we do not use diet Colas since the artificial sweeteners that they contain have
acidic functional groups that will also interfere with the titration.

You should remember from previous titrations that the titration is complete when you reach
the equivalence point. The equivalence point is when starting material has completely
reacted. Usually this is not visually apparent without special aid. In past experiments you
probably used an indicator that changed color very close to the equivalence point to signal
when the reaction is complete. This visual change is the endpoint. In this experiment, the
Cola is dark brown and would mask any color changes thus preventing the use of such
indicators.

Phosphoric acid is a weak, triprotic acid. It dissociates as shown in Equations 1-3.

H3PO4(aq) + H2O (l) H2PO4 (aq) + H3O+ (aq) Equation 1

H2PO4 (aq) + H2O (l) HPO42 (aq) + H3O+ (aq) Equation 2

HPO42 (aq) + H2O (l) PO43 (aq) + H3O+ (aq) Equation 3

Since each dissociation of an H+ occurs in a separate reaction, each reaction has its own
equilibrium constant, and therefore its own equivalence point. Figure 10.1 shows what a
typical titration curve for a Cola sample looks like. You should notice that although there are
three equivalence points, only two can be seen on the graph. Since glass electrodes measure
H3O+ ions and above pH 10.5 the acid content is very low, the electrode begins to become
bombarded with the high concentration of other ions that have been added during the
titration (mainly Na+ in this case). This is referred to as the alkaline error, and makes the pH
appear lower than it really is. For this reason we will stop the titration at a pH of 10. In so
doing we will not be able to observe the third equivalence point of phosphoric acid.
93
94 EXPERIMENT 10: TITRATION OF A COLA PRODUCT

The equilibrium constant for each reaction is listed below.

Phosphoric acid Citric acid

K1 7.11 x 10-3 7.44 x 10-4
K2 6.32 x 10-8 1.73 x 10-5
K3 7.10 x 10-13 4.02 x 10-7

Figure 10.1

There are four points highlighted in Figure 10.1. Points 1 and 3 are midway in the region
where the pH is relatively unchanging. From your understanding of buffers, the pHs at
these points are the pKas of the first and second ionization of the phosphoric acid
(Equations 1 and 2). Points 2 and 4 are located in the regions of rapid pH change. Rapid pH
change occurs when that acid species has just been completely titrated. Therefore these
points are the equivalence points.

Figure 10.2 illustrates how to extrapolate data from your titration curve. The volume of base
used to reach the equivalence point is read off the graph. Together with the given molarity of
the base we can determine how many moles were used to titrate the Cola. From the number
of moles of base, the number of moles of phosphoric acid can be obtained
stoichiometrically. Remember that at the first equivalence point, there is a 1:1 mole ratio of
NaOH to phosphoric acid, but at the second equivalence point, you have completely titrated
the H3PO4 and the H2PO4 . So at equivalence point 2 there is a 2:1 mole ratio of NaOH to
phosphoric acid. The molarity of phosphoric acid is then calculated by dividing the number
of moles of phosphoric acid by the volume of the Cola used in the titration.

Safety Precautions: Keep your safety goggles on at all times. The Cola drink is
harmless, but the NaOH is not. It causes irritation to the eye and skin.

Procedure: Work with one partner.

1. Use a 25.00-mL pipet to deliver exactly 25.00 mL of room temperature, de-carbonated
Cola into a 250-mL beaker. Check out a magnetic stir bar and gently add it to the
beaker. Place the beaker on a stir plate. Set up a pH meter so that the probe is
 EXPERIMENT 10: TITRATION OF A COLA PRODUCT 95

completely immersed, but in a way that the stir bar will not hit it. The tip of the probe
has a thin glass membrane. Handle it with care! Position the beaker so that the stir bar
is as close to the center of the beaker as possible for optimal stirring. It should stir
rapidly enough to ensure thorough mixing but not so rapidly as to cause splattering.
2. Obtain about 75 mL of 0.0100 M NaOH in a beaker. Use this NaOH to fill a buret.
Remember that you should always rinse a buret 2-3 times with the solution that you are
about to put into it and remove air bubbles at the buret tip. If you do not remember how
to use a buret, ask your instructor. The initial level of the NaOH should be at exactly
0.00 mL. Once the buret is ready, place it over the beaker containing the Cola.
3. Follow the procedure in Appendix 5 on the use of the pH meter. Calibrate with pH 4
and 7 buffers.
4. Set up an Excel spreadsheet on the laptop to record the data. Your laptop should be
equipped with a flash drive to record your data. If your laptop does not have one, inform
your instructor.
5. In Cell A1 type Vol NaOH and Cell B1, pH. Next, highlight Columns A and B
from Cell 1 through 40, and then select Insert, Scatter, Scatter with Smooth Lines and
Markers. Remove the Legend from the graph. You are now set up to track the
progress of your titration on the graph. Each data point you type into the spreadsheet
will immediately show up on the graph. After you have completed the titration you can
go back and fix up the scale maximum and minimum, titles, etc.
6. One partner will be adding the NaOH and calling out the buret reading. The other
partner will read the pH and record both data directly on the laptop. (You will not be
writing anything into your lab notebook.) SET UP THE FILE TO SAVE on the flash
drive provided, in the folder titled Chem 124. Save your file as Ch 124 Titr Cola
LAST NAMES OF YOU AND YOUR PARTNER. Use your last names. Do not use
initials. Get help from your instructor or lab assistant if necessary. You will want to
save periodically throughout the titration so that you dont lose any data in case the
system crashes.
7. You are now ready to titrate the Cola. Your goal is to slowly open the stopcock and
allow about 0.5 mL to fall into the flask. After each addition, record the exact buret
reading and the pH reading. In reality, slightly more or less than 0.5 mL can be added
each time, but you must record the exact buret reading each time. This titration is more
time consuming than using an indicator, but you only need to do it once (unless you
make major errors). Unlike previous titrations you may have performed, you should not
be rinsing the buret tip or the side of the flask with deionized water during the titration.
Any added water would directly change the pH that you are measuring.
8. When you have added 40 mL of NaOH or when the pH reaches 10, you can stop
collecting data. Remember to save your data before continuing. Clean the magnetic stir
bar with water and RETURN IT TO YOUR INSTRUCTOR.
9. Determine the density of the Cola. You had developed a procedure for determining the
density of a bleach sample in Experiment 5. Refer to your notes in your lab notebook as
to how it was done. Do not repeat any mistakes you might have made in the previous
experiment. Record the necessary data in your notebook. Hint: Why is it inappropriate
to measure the density of 1 mL of Cola?
96 EXPERIMENT 10: TITRATION OF A COLA PRODUCT

FINAL PREPARATION OF THE TITRATION CURVE:

You and your partner will work together to fix up the titration curve and then print one copy
for each of you. Both of you are held responsible for the appearance of the graph, and a
significant portion of the grades is based on it. Follow instructions below carefully.
This graph is different from other ones you have created this semester as there is no
trendline involved. Instead you will focus on selecting an appropriate scale for the x-axes.
Have your instructor check your graph and spread sheet before you print them.

1. If you have not done so yet, remove the Legend. The Legend is pointless when there is
only one series and the Legend takes up space unnecessarily. This is done by clicking
on the Legend and pressing Delete.

Delete Legend

2. LABEL GRAPH: Highlight the graph (by clicking anywhere on the graph), select Chart
Tools, Layout, Chart Title, Above Chart and type in a title for the graph followed by
names of you and your partner:
pH versus Volume NaOH added (in mL) (Names of you and your partner)
3. LABEL AXES: Select Chart Tools, Layout, Axis Title, Primary Horizontal Axis,
Title Below Axis and label the x-axis. Go to Primary Vertical Axis, Horizontal Title
and type in a title for the y-axis:
X-axis is Volume of NaOH added (in mL). Y-axis is pH.
4. ADJUST SCALES FOR X-AXIS: The x-axis needs to have finer graduation so that the
volume at the equivalence points can be read more precisely. Go to Chart Tools,
Layout Tab, Axes, Primary Horizontal Axis, More Primary Horizontal Axis
Options (at the very bottom). In this new window, under Major, Fixed, enter 1. Under
Minor, Fixed, enter 0.5. Under Minor tick mark type, select Outside.
You will notice some of the numbers are illegible because they run into each other.
We need to rotate them so we can read them. In the same Format Axis window you are
at, select Alignment (on the left), Text direction, and select Rotate All Text 270 .
Close.
5. GRIDLINES: We need some gridlines to help us read the volume, so go to Chart Tools,
Layout Tab, Gridlines, Primary Vertical Gridlines, and select Major Gridlines.
6. We dont need to do anything with the y-scale because we are not reading the pH off the
chart, just the volume off the x-scale.
7. ADJUST THICKNESS OF CURVE AND MARKERS: We want to make the curve
thinner and the points smaller so that we can get more precision out of the graph. Go to
Chart Tools, Layout and on the top far-left, there is a window that by default says
Chart Area. Use the drop down window to select Series 1 and then below that,
click on Format Selection. In the new Format Data Series window, select Marker
Options, select Built-in and change size to 2. Next, in the same Format Data Series
window, select Line Style. Under Width, select 0.25 pt. Close. The titration curve
should now be of a reasonable thickness.
8. HIGHLIGHT THE GRAPH BY CLICKING SOMEWHERE ON THE GRAPH. Select
Page Layout, Orientation, Landscape. Double check that you still have the graph
 EXPERIMENT 10: TITRATION OF A COLA PRODUCT 97

highlighted. If you are not sure, click AGAIN on the graph, then on the Microsoft
button and Print.

9. PRINTING THE SPREADSHEET: Since you did not record the data in your lab
notebook for this experiment, the spreadsheet is the only record you have of your data.
First, make sure the spreadsheet is on Portrait Mode. Click once on Cell A1, then on
Page Layout, Orientation, and select Portrait. Next, highlight Cells A1 and B1 all the
way down to the last cells that contain data. DO NOT HIGHLIGHT THE ENTIRE
COLUMNS, ONLY THE CELLS THAT CONTAIN DATA. Click Print Area, Set
Print Area. This allows you to print just the data and not the graph. Click on the
Microsoft Button, and Print two copies, one each for you and your partner.
10. SAVE AGAIN! You are now going to save both the spreadsheet and your graph into the
folder designated by your instructor. You may wish to send a copy of this by email to
yourself, or save it onto your flash drive if you have one with you.

OBTAINING INFORMATION FROM THE GRAPH: To be completed INDIVIDUAL-

LY and before you leave the lab. You will need a sharp pencil. An electric pencil sharpener
is provided in the lab. Refer to Figure 10.2 as a guideline.
11. Draw the two baselines in the region where the pH is increasing only gradually. Then
draw a tangent to the points in the region where the pH is rising rapidly (shown as dotted
line in the Figure 10.3). Find the intersections of the two baselines and the tangent at the
first equivalence point. Measure the distance with your ruler, then calculate the mid-
point of this tangent (between the intersections). Read the volume as precisely as you
can on the x-axis (to the closest 0.1 mL). This is the volume of NaOH needed to reach
the first equivalence point. Record this on your graph.
12. Repeat for the second equivalence point. The volume is the volume of NaOH needed to
reach the second equivalence point (to neutralize TWO moles of H+ per mole of H3PO4).
Expt #10: Titration of a Cola product with NaOH Sp 2009 A.Smith & C.Brown
9

8.5

7.5

6.5

pH 5.5

4.5

3.5

2.5

2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

Volume of NaOH (mL)

Figure 10.2
98 EXPERIMENT 10: TITRATION OF A COLA PRODUCT

UNDERSTANDING EQUIVALENCE POINTS FROM THE TITRATION CURVE

In your General Chemistry I Lab you should have performed titrations of an acid (such as
HCl or acetic acid) with a strong base (such as NaOH), and with an indicator (such as
phenolphthalein. At the point when the solution turned from colorless to light pink, you
would have added just enough NaOH to neutralize all of the acid. The change in color
signifies your reaching the equivalence point.

In this experiment, by drawing the baselines and tangents, you have determined the
equivalence point without the aid of an indicator. For the first equivalence point, you have
added just enough NaOH to react with all of the H3PO4 to form H2PO4. For the second
equivalence points, there is enough NaOH to react with all of the H3PO4 to form HPO42.

CALCULATIONS: Show your calculation setups carefully. Do individually.

1. Write the net ionic equation for the reaction between H3PO4 and NaOH leading to the
first equivalence point.
2. Using the volume of NaOH at the first equivalence point calculate the molarity of the
phosphoric acid in the cola sample.
3. Repeat using the volume of NaOH at the second equivalence point.
4. Calculate the average molarity of the phosphoric acid.
5. Calculate the density of the Cola sample. You will need this for the next step in the
calculation.
6. Using the average molarity of the phosphoric acid, calculate the average mass percent of
phosphoric acid in the Cola sample.

Pre-Lab Assignment:
1. There is no need to prepare a data table for the titration ahead of time in your lab
notebook as you will be entering the data directly on the Excel spreadsheet on a laptop.
However, you should prepare your lab notebook for recording other data. You should
know what they are by reading the procedure carefully.

2. Describe precisely in a short paragraph how you will determine the density of your Cola
sample. Specify which and what size equipment you will use.

3. The phosphoric acid in a 100.00-mL sample of Cola drink was titrated with 0.1025 M
NaOH. If the first equivalence point occurred after 16.11 mL of base was added, and the
second equivalence point occurred after 32.55 mL of base was added, calculate the
molar concentrations of H3PO4 in the Cola sample based on (a) the first equivalence
point, and (b) the second equivalence point.

4. Based on the data given in Question 3, if you were able to titrate to the third equivalence
point of H3PO4, estimate the total volume of NaOH would you need.
 EXPERIMENT 10: TITRATION OF A COLA PRODUCT 99

5. One source in the literature quotes 0.54 g/L as being the concentration of phosphoric
acid in Colas. What is it in molarity? Show your calculations and include units.

Post-Lab Questions: (Please type your answers. Equations can be hand-written.)

1. As explained in the previous experiment, the pH of a half-neutralized solution of a weak
acid is equal to the pKa of the acid. The following questions refer to the titration curve
in Figure 10.2 (not your own curve).
a) What is the volume of NaOH at the first equivalence point?
b) When half of this volume of NaOH had been added, the solution is half-neutralized.
What is the pH at that point?
c) What is the pKa of the acid in the titration?
d) What is the Ka of the acid?

2. Examine Figure 10.2. In the region where the volume of NaOH added was 1 to 9 mL,
explain in your own words why the pH is increasing rather than staying constant as it
would have been if the acid were HCl. This is the region where the NaOH is reacting
with H3PO4. Write the net ionic equation to show this reaction. Hint: What are the
products in this region of the titration? If the acid were HCl, what would the products
have been in this region? How does the difference in products affect the pH in this
region?

3. Squirt contains citric acid instead of phosphoric acid. Provide a reason why a Squirt
titration is more difficult than a Cola titration. (Hint: Examine the acid dissociation
constant provided in the Introduction section.) Answer in full sentences.

4. Why is the first equivalence point at a pH below 7? Explain clearly in full sentences.
Use net ionic equations to help illustrate your explanation.
100 EXPERIMENT 10: TITRATION OF A COLA PRODUCT
 EXPERIMENT 10: TITRATION OF A COLA PRODUCT 101

Calculations & Results: Name: _________________________

CHEM 124 Sec: _____ Partners Name: _________________________

Net ionic equation for the titration up to the 1st equivalence point:

Volume of NaOH needed to reach the 1st equivalence point = ________

Calculate the molarity of the phosphoric acid based on the 1st equivalence point:

Net ionic equation for the titration up to the 2nd equivalence point:

Volume of NaOH needed to reach the 2nd equivalence point = ________

Calculate the molarity of the phosphoric acid based on the 2nd equivalence point:
Hint: Do you expect this to be the same or different from your answer for the 1st equivalence
point?

SUMMARY OR RESULTS:
Based on 1st equiv pt Based on 2nd equiv pt Average
Molarity of H3PO4
Based on the answer to Pre-Lab Question 5, calculate the error and percent error of your
average molarity. Show setup here:

ANS. error = ________ % Error = _________

(continued next page)

102 EXPERIMENT 10: TITRATION OF A COLA PRODUCT

Name: ____________________________

Average molarity of H3PO4 = ______________ (from previous page)

Calculate the mass percent of H3PO4 in the Cola sample from the average molarity:

ANS. _____________