CENTRAL BOARD OF

SECONDARY EDUCATION

CHEMISTRY PROJECT
To verify the Freundlich Isotherm for the
adsorption of acetic acid on active
charcoal and to compare adsorption of
dyes on different adsorbents .

● Project by- Garv Gupta

● Class-12 PCMP
● Roll no:11
● Submitted to -Dr Alok Kumar Sharma
 CERTIFICATE

It is hereby to certify that, the original and

genuine investigation work has been carried
out to investigate about the subject matter and
the related data collection and investigation
has been solely, sincerely and satisfactorily by
Garv Gupta of Class 12th PCMP, Nehru
School (Ghaziabad )regarding his project
titled:
To verify the Freundlich Isotherm for the
adsorption of acetic acid on active
charcoal and to compare adsorption of
dyes on different adsorbents .

Dr Alok Kumar Sharma

(PGT CHEMISTRY)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It would be my utmost pleasure to express my

sincere gratitude to my Chemistry teacher
Dr Alok Kumar Sharma in providing a helping
hand in this project. His valuable guidance,
support and supervision all through this
project titled:To verify the Freundlich
Isotherm for the adsorption of acetic acid
on active charcoal and to compare
adsorption of dyes on different adsorbents
are responsible for its present form.

Further, I would like to appreciate and thank

my family members who helped me positively
at every step in carrying out the whole project.

Garv Gupta
XII PCMP
 CONTENTS

S.No Topic Page No

1 Introduction

2 Theory

3 Apparatus

4 Chemicals
Required

5 Procedure

6 Observations
and
calculations

7 Result

8 Bibliography
 INTRODUCTION
Adsorption: It is the sticking of atoms or
molecules to a surface called adsorbent.The
particles which get stuck on can be from a gas
liquid or dissolved solid. An example would be the
way water sticks to the surface of sand grains on
beach or to particles of soil

Freundlich’s Adsorption Equation:

The adsorption of gases or vapours on solids is
found to increase with the pressure of the gas. The
curves obtained by plotting the quantity of the gas
absorbed per unit of adsorbent (x/m) with increase
of pressure (P) of the gas at constant temperature
are called adsorption isotherms.

The following figure depicts the general form of

adsorption isotherms.It may be noted that at first
the adsorption increases more rapidly with
pressure and then much more slowly as the
surface of the absorbent becomes gradually
covered with the molecules of the adsorbent.
Freundlich proposed the following empirical
equation called Freundlich’s adsorption
equation.

Where x= number of grams of substance absorbed

by M grams of the adsorbent when the partial
pressure of the gas is P. k and n are constants for
a given system of adsorbent and adsorbate at any
temperature.

On taking the logarithm of both sides the above

given expression assumes the form:

that if logx/m is plotted against logP,a straight line

should be obtained. the slope of the curve will give
1/n while the intercepts on log x/m axis at p = 0
would give k .
It is observed that the above Equation holds good
at low pressure, but fails at high pressure.
 THEORY
Freundlich adsorption isotherm is applicable to
solutions as well. In this case, but concentration
(C)of solute(adsorbate) in solution replaces
pressure (P) of the gases.

1/𝑛
The equation is 𝑥/𝑚 = 𝑘 * 𝑝 Where (n >1), k
and n are constants .
Taking Logarithm 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑥/𝑚 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑘 + 1/𝑛𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑐

Thus a plot between log x/m and logc gives a

straight line for small range of concentration
 Apparatus
Five stopper 100 ml conical flask, two burettes with
stands,Pipette, measuring cylinder, funnels, trough

Chemicals Required
Standard solutions of Acetic Acid(0.5 M) and
Sodium Hydroxide (0.1M ) powdered
activated charcoal and phenolphthalein
indicator.
 PROCEDURE
1.Label 5 clean and dry 100 ml stoppered
bottles as 1,2,3,4 and 5 .
2. Fill one burette with 0.5 M acetic acid and the
other with distilled water.
3. Add the volume of Acetic Acid and water to
the five bottles as indicated in the following
table.

Shake the bottles well.

4.Add 4 gram of activated charcoal to every

bottle and shake them again and place them in a
trough which contains water at room temperature
 5.Let the bottles remain in the trough containing
water for 40 to 45 minutes and shake each bottle
from time to time.

6. Filter the contents of each of the five bottle

separately and simultaneously and collect the
filtrate in 5 different bottles.

For simultaneous filtration, setup 5 funnels with 5

dry filter papers.

NOTE: Same quality and size of dry filter paper for filtration in each case
should be used to avoid error due to differential adsorption of Acetic Acid on
filter papers. About 5 ml of solution in each case should be rejected as its
concentration is slightly reduced to differential adsorption by the filter papers.

7.Titrate 10 ml of each filter solution against 0.1 M

NaOH using phenolphthalein as indicator. Take
three concordant readings in each case
Observations and Calculations

● Weight of charcoal in each case(M)=4g

Temperature of water=298 K
● calculate equilibrium concentration of Acetic
Acid(moles/ litre) from the titration data using
normality equation :
● Normality of NaOH used =N/10
● Volume of acid acid used in the pipette=5ml

● Plot logx/m values (ordinate) against log c

(abscissa).
● Evidently, when c=0 ,x/m is also xero i.e. when
log c =0 logx/m is also zero . This point may
be included in the plot.
Results
● A straight line is obtained in the plot.This
proves the validity of the Freundlich
Isotherm over the concentration range
under observation.
Comparative Study of
Adsorption of Dyes on
Different Adsorbents:
Introduction:
To explore how different adsorbents perform
in removing dyes from aqueous solutions and
how well the Freundlich adsorption isotherm
describes the adsorption process.

● To compare the adsorption of a dye (e.g.,

methylene blue, methyl orange, or eosin)
on various adsorbents like activated
charcoal, silica gel, and alumina.
● To analyze the experimental data using
the Freundlich adsorption isotherm and
determine adsorption constants (kkk and
1/n1/n1/n) for each adsorbent.
 Chemicals Required
1. Adsorbents: Activated charcoal, silica
gel, alumina.
2. Dye: Methylene blue or any other
suitable dye.
3. Equipment:
○ UV-Vis spectrophotometer (for
measuring dye concentration).
○ Beakers, stirrers, and funnels.
○ Analytical balance.
○ Measuring cylinders and pipettes.
4. Chemicals:
○ Aqueous solution of the dye.
○ Distilled water.
 PROCEDURE
Preparation of Dye Solutions:
● Prepare a series of solutions with known
concentrations of the dye (e.g., 10 ppm,
20 ppm, etc.).
● Measure the initial absorbance of each
solution using a UV-Vis
spectrophotometer (to establish a
calibration curve).
Adsorption Experiments:
● Take a fixed volume of each dye solution
and add a fixed amount (e.g., 0.5 g) of
one adsorbent (e.g., activated charcoal) to
each.
● Stir the mixtures thoroughly and allow
them to equilibrate (e.g., for 1-2 hours).
● Filter the solutions to remove the
adsorbent.
Analysis:
● Measure the absorbance of the filtrates to
determine the equilibrium concentration of
the dye.
● Repeat the process for all adsorbents
(activated charcoal, silica gel, and
alumina).
Data Analysis:

● Calculate the amount of dye adsorbed per

unit mass of adsorbent (x/m):

Where:

Plot for each adsorbent

and determine from the slope and
intercept of the straight line.
Expected Observations
● The adsorption capacity (k) and
adsorption intensity (1/n) will differ for
each adsorbent due to their different
surface areas, pore structures, and
chemical properties.

● Activated charcoal typically shows the

highest adsorption due to its high surface
area.
Result
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

● NCERT TEXTBOOK CLASS 12

● Atkins’ Physical Chemistry
● Encyclopedia Of Membranes