Unit 2D | Personal Review | RESUB
Personal Review
How am I doing?
Aims:
➢ To review personal development of scientific skills for laboratory work.
Unit 2A Titration & Colorimetry
Skills I have learned in this unit (what did I know before?):
Standard Solution:
Preparing standard solutions is a fundamental technique in analytical
chemistry that plays a role in many quantitative analysis methods like acid-
base titrations, redox titrations, and calibration of instruments. It allows you to
find the concentration or amount of a substance present in an unknown
sample by comparing to other solutions of known concentrations. I have never
performed this practical before so it was entirely new to me and required me
to learn new skills from the beginning and throughout. Some of the skills and
techniques I have learned during the preparation of standard solutions are:
▪ Accurately weighing out solid compounds (sodium carbonate) using a
top pan balance.
▪ Preparing solutions (sodium carbonate solution) of precise
concentrations using volumetric flasks.
▪ Using graduated pipettes to transfer precise volumes of solutions.
▪ Performing dilution calculations to prepare solutions of desired
concentrations from stock solutions.
▪ Using a burette to accurately dispense volumes of solutions for
titrations.
▪ Calculating the concentration of an unknown solution by titration
against a standard solution.
1|P a g e
,Unit 2D | Personal Review | RESUB
Titration:
During this unit, there were not many previous skills that I had from before as I
never had the chance to properly carry out this practical in secondary school.
However, I did have a little experience in titration from the beginning of my
course in which I carried out a practice practical. I learned many new skills
during this unit (titration) such as:
▪ Calibrating equipment. It is an entirely new skill that I have learned and
is proved to be crucial in ensuring accuracy therefore will definitely be
useful for future practical experiments. My piers were also not confident
in titration so it was exciting to build a new foundation in this skill.
▪ Another skill I have learned is the use of burettes. I had never used a
burette before this unit so it was a new experience for me and also
slightly confusing at times. The tap at the bottom of the burette was
something I made little mistakes with. At first, I was confused as to
which way I should turn the tap to close it which led to me accidentally
dripping through solutions when carrying out the practical. However,
with each time we used the burettes, I had gotten better at letting the
tap drip carefully and aligning the bottom of the meniscus to each cm3
marking. I am now able to make sure that the funnel is removed from
the top of the burette and do not need to constantly check to see if the
tap is closed.
▪ A skill I feel I have improved on is using pipettes. I had never used a
graduated pipette before so everything about it was new to me
especially using a pipette filler to fill the pipette up with different
substances. I still occasionally struggle to get the substance I’m
measuring out perfectly aligned with the 25cm3 graduation mark.
▪ Drawing pH curves. This was my first time plotting a pH curve and for my
first time, I would confidently say that it went exceptionally well. I was
able to plot the points correctly using the readings that I had recorded in
a table from the practical. Using this, I was then able to work out the
equivalence point of the hydrochloric acid.
2|P a g e
, Unit 2D | Personal Review | RESUB
▪ One last skill that I expanded on was identifying hazards and risks for the
practical. For example, for each hazard I had to list all the safety
precautions taken to prevent the risks from occurring. A knowledge I had
acquired was the risk of hydrochloric acid – a corrosive liquid that can
cause irritation to the eyes and skin. I had to learn how to avoid this risk
by wearing correct lab gear such as safety goggles, safety gloves and a
lab coat. This skill will certainly be very useful for me to use in future
experiments as it is an important skill that plays a role in the accuracy of
a practical.
Colorimetry:
I have never performed this practical before so it was entirely new to me and
required me to learn new skills from the beginning and throughout. Some of
the skills and techniques I have learned during colorimetry are:
▪ The calibration of the colorimeter which was completed by placing the
test tube-containing distiller water into the colorimeter and pressing ‘r’
to zero it.
▪ The setting up and cleaning of the apparatus used. The apparatus was
cleaned with distilled water.
▪ Using distilled water to rinse out the beakers to make sure the copper
sulfate was being put back into the experiment and not wasted in the
beakers.
▪ Using a graduated pipette to be accurate when transferring the
solutions.
▪ Filling the burette past 0 then slowly releasing them to get the burette
reading 0. I learned to use a funnel when filling the burette up to ensure
that all liquid enters the burette. Instead of trying to fill up the burette
exactly at 0, I let it go past 0 to remove air bubbles as well as releasing it
slowly to get it to read exactly 0.
3|P a g e
Personal Review
How am I doing?
Aims:
➢ To review personal development of scientific skills for laboratory work.
Unit 2A Titration & Colorimetry
Skills I have learned in this unit (what did I know before?):
Standard Solution:
Preparing standard solutions is a fundamental technique in analytical
chemistry that plays a role in many quantitative analysis methods like acid-
base titrations, redox titrations, and calibration of instruments. It allows you to
find the concentration or amount of a substance present in an unknown
sample by comparing to other solutions of known concentrations. I have never
performed this practical before so it was entirely new to me and required me
to learn new skills from the beginning and throughout. Some of the skills and
techniques I have learned during the preparation of standard solutions are:
▪ Accurately weighing out solid compounds (sodium carbonate) using a
top pan balance.
▪ Preparing solutions (sodium carbonate solution) of precise
concentrations using volumetric flasks.
▪ Using graduated pipettes to transfer precise volumes of solutions.
▪ Performing dilution calculations to prepare solutions of desired
concentrations from stock solutions.
▪ Using a burette to accurately dispense volumes of solutions for
titrations.
▪ Calculating the concentration of an unknown solution by titration
against a standard solution.
1|P a g e
,Unit 2D | Personal Review | RESUB
Titration:
During this unit, there were not many previous skills that I had from before as I
never had the chance to properly carry out this practical in secondary school.
However, I did have a little experience in titration from the beginning of my
course in which I carried out a practice practical. I learned many new skills
during this unit (titration) such as:
▪ Calibrating equipment. It is an entirely new skill that I have learned and
is proved to be crucial in ensuring accuracy therefore will definitely be
useful for future practical experiments. My piers were also not confident
in titration so it was exciting to build a new foundation in this skill.
▪ Another skill I have learned is the use of burettes. I had never used a
burette before this unit so it was a new experience for me and also
slightly confusing at times. The tap at the bottom of the burette was
something I made little mistakes with. At first, I was confused as to
which way I should turn the tap to close it which led to me accidentally
dripping through solutions when carrying out the practical. However,
with each time we used the burettes, I had gotten better at letting the
tap drip carefully and aligning the bottom of the meniscus to each cm3
marking. I am now able to make sure that the funnel is removed from
the top of the burette and do not need to constantly check to see if the
tap is closed.
▪ A skill I feel I have improved on is using pipettes. I had never used a
graduated pipette before so everything about it was new to me
especially using a pipette filler to fill the pipette up with different
substances. I still occasionally struggle to get the substance I’m
measuring out perfectly aligned with the 25cm3 graduation mark.
▪ Drawing pH curves. This was my first time plotting a pH curve and for my
first time, I would confidently say that it went exceptionally well. I was
able to plot the points correctly using the readings that I had recorded in
a table from the practical. Using this, I was then able to work out the
equivalence point of the hydrochloric acid.
2|P a g e
, Unit 2D | Personal Review | RESUB
▪ One last skill that I expanded on was identifying hazards and risks for the
practical. For example, for each hazard I had to list all the safety
precautions taken to prevent the risks from occurring. A knowledge I had
acquired was the risk of hydrochloric acid – a corrosive liquid that can
cause irritation to the eyes and skin. I had to learn how to avoid this risk
by wearing correct lab gear such as safety goggles, safety gloves and a
lab coat. This skill will certainly be very useful for me to use in future
experiments as it is an important skill that plays a role in the accuracy of
a practical.
Colorimetry:
I have never performed this practical before so it was entirely new to me and
required me to learn new skills from the beginning and throughout. Some of
the skills and techniques I have learned during colorimetry are:
▪ The calibration of the colorimeter which was completed by placing the
test tube-containing distiller water into the colorimeter and pressing ‘r’
to zero it.
▪ The setting up and cleaning of the apparatus used. The apparatus was
cleaned with distilled water.
▪ Using distilled water to rinse out the beakers to make sure the copper
sulfate was being put back into the experiment and not wasted in the
beakers.
▪ Using a graduated pipette to be accurate when transferring the
solutions.
▪ Filling the burette past 0 then slowly releasing them to get the burette
reading 0. I learned to use a funnel when filling the burette up to ensure
that all liquid enters the burette. Instead of trying to fill up the burette
exactly at 0, I let it go past 0 to remove air bubbles as well as releasing it
slowly to get it to read exactly 0.
3|P a g e
