Titration Curves

This is one of those difficult topics to teach. I know that students are struggling to understand what's going on in a titration experiment. I made sure that i've got a long chalkboard and some colored chalks to boot. The pH calculations for the whole titration process (from the initial pH to the pH beyond equivalence point) must be written side by side within the same chalkboard so that the students would see the progression.

Clarification of the objectives and given parameters

• Recall how titration is performed in the laboratory including equipment used (buret, conical flask, indicator, pH meter) and the names used to refer to the solutions (titrant, titre or analyte)
• Draw a buret with the concentration of the titrant used.
• Under the buret, draw a conical flask with the volume and concentration of the titre.
• Draw an empty plot of pH vs. volume of titrant. Coordinates for specific points in the titration process will be plotted as the calculations are made.
• Emphasize that the calculations are meant to determine the pH at various points in the titration curve and how the curves are different with using different combinations of weak/strong acids and bases.
• Emphasize also that, in general, there are two reactions involved in the process and therefore a two-step calculation is required: the acid-base reaction and the dissociation of the remaining acid/base