Schedule for the semester

SCH 104/SAN 102: Basic Analytical Chemistry

Week Lecture Subtopics/Readings Notes/Remarks

topic/class
activity
1 Introduction Definition, categories and applications of Dr. Nyairo
Analytical Chemistry.
2 Analytical data and Qualitative and quantitative data, Metric Dr. Nyairo
metric system system of units; precision and significant (CAT 1)
figures; dimensional analysis;
3&4 The mole concept Determination of atomic/molecular mass, Dr. Kowanga
empirical formula, molecular formula,
number of moles, Chemical equations and
stoichiometry
5 Limiting reagent Limiting reagent and percent yield Dr. Kowanga
and percent yield
6 Reactions in Precipitation reactions, Dr. Kowanga
solution: (CAT 2)
7 Titrations (acid/base)
8 Redox, complexation reactions.
9 Solubility Solubility rules, Solubility product constant, Dr. Ongeri
common/ion effect, acidity and salt
solubility, Qsp/Ksp Criterion
10 Qualitative analysis Selective precipitation: sulphide Dr. Ongeri
separations, hydroxide separations,
amphoteric hydroxides. Qualitative analysis.
11 Revision
12 Revision
13 Final Exams
14 Final Exams

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Definition of terms:

Analytical chemistry: It involves separation (isolation), identification (qualitative analysis),

measuring (quantitative analysis), and studying the components of a substance. It also studies,
develops, and improves the tools and (classical and modern) methods for analyzing samples.

1.3.0 Analytical Chemistry

 It is a branch of chemistry but entails all chemistry (applied chemistry) i.e. the study of
substances, especially their structure, composition, properties and transformations.
 Uses a variety of tools (equipment) and scientific approaches in the attempts to
understand the environment.
 Like all other chemistry it tries to harness, the properties of and changes in substance.
 All experimental but rests on firm theories and employs state of the art advances in
technology.
 It is the custodian of quality and purity of any processed product.
 This is the only discipline which is instrumental in establishing environmental impact of
the many finished/wasted products. The effects of chemicals– both positive and negative
are enlightened by this discipline.
1.3.1 Scope of Basic Analytical chemistry
a) Definition analytical chemistry
b) Develop quantitative skills
c) Develop and synthesize experimental results.
d) Understand chemical principles used in experiments/analysis
e) Apply mathematical concepts to solve quantitative chemical problems.
f) Appreciate role of instruments in Analytical Chemistry.

1.3.2 Components of Basic Analytical chemistry

a) Elementary mathematics
- Operations (+, -, ÷, X, ; Xn)
- Logarithms and exponential expressions
- Calculates
- Series & limits
b) Theory of measurements/ Error analysis
- Accuracy and precision
- Judging authentic results (use of sf)
- Observation
- Quantitative measurements quantity
- Quantitative observations
- Unit systems
- Properties
c) Instrumentation: the use of tools/equipment is an exciting and fronting part of
analysis that interacts with all the areas of chemistry and with many other
fields of chemistry and applied science. Examples are analyses of Martian
soils, agriculture, body fluids, engine of aircrafts. Analytical instrumentation
plays an important role in the production and evaluation of new products and in
the protection of the environment

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1.3.3 Terms Associated with Analytical chemistry
a) Analytical Techniques – a fundamental scientific phenomenon that has
proved useful for providing information on the composition of
substances.
b) A method is a specific application of a technique to solve an analytical
problem.
c) Procedure written instruction for carrying out a method (ASTM, AOAC
are example) assumes that the user has prior analytical knowledge of
methodology.
d) Protocol is the most specific description of a method.
e) Types of chemical instrumentation
- Spectroscopic Techniques: AAS, UV-Vis, FTIR among others
- Electrochemical Techniques
- Chromatography: GC, HPLC
- X-RAY techniques: XRD, XRF, XPS
- Thermo-gravimetric Techniques: TGA
- Microscopic techniques: SEM, TEM, STM
- Miscellaneous Techniques (TA, MS, Kinetic)
- Hyphenated Techniques ( LC-MS, SEM-EDX)

1.3.4. Role of chemical analysis

a) Develop quantitative skills in handling stoichiometric problems
b) Develop hand on kills in performing experiments in chemical analyses
a. Handling glassware
b. Using simple laboratory apparatus
c. Setting up quantitative and using apparatus for quantitative work
c) Provide a theoretical basis of understanding the chemical principles underlying
traditional chemical analytical procedures.
d) Determine concentrations
e) Characterize properties
f) Elucidation of structures
g) Determine conditions for chemical changes
h) Provide very fast results by performing both simple and complicated analyses by
the use of on-line instrumentation.
1.3.5 Application of chemical analysis

Generally, all branches (including biochemistry, biology, physics, agriculture, forensics,

geology, food science among others) draw on the ideas and techniques of analytical
chemistry. Major areas of chemical analysis include:
a) Industrial (QA and QC): Quality assurance is the guidelines, policies, and procedures
to make a high-quality product and avoid defects. In contrast, quality control is the
product's actual review during production to ensure it is created to the highest
standards. QA – focuses on the consumers / markets and QC –is for manufacturers /
providers of services. QA primarily focuses on the processes and procedures that
improve quality, including training, documentation, monitoring and audits. QC
focuses on the product to find defects that remain after development.

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 b) Basic Research such as bioanalytical chemistry and analysis
c) Diagnostic tool in health care (bioanalysis, clinical analysis)
d) Use of CA in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and pollution control.
e) Forensics: DNA, finger print detection, blood analysis
f) Environmental analysis
g) Materials analysis: Checking chemical and mechanical strength, size and
composition.
1.3.6 Branches of Analytical Chemistry
i. Quantitative Analysis
Quantitative Analysis is a method of determining the absolute or relative quantity regarding the
concentration of one or more substances present in a sample or compound. Any method used for
determining the amount of a chemical in a sample. The amount is always expressed as a number
with appropriate units.
For example, take a sample of an unknown solid substance. The chemists first use “qualitative”
methods to identify what type of compound is present in the sample; then he adopts the
quantitative analysis procedure to determine the exact amount or the quantity of the compound
present in the sample.
Some Quantitative analysis techniques include Gravimetric Analysis and Volumetric analysis.
ii. Qualitative Analysis
Quality means the standard or the feature of one substance.
Qualitative Analysis is the determination of non-numerical information about a chemical species,
a reaction, etc. Examples would be observing that a reaction is creating gas that is bubbling out of
solution or observing that a reaction results in a color change.
Hence, Qualitative analysis method deals with the determination of the quality of a particular
compound, irrespective of its quantity or concentration. Qualitative analysis does not measure the
amount of the substance but measures the quality of that material. Example is the observation of
a chemical reaction, whether there will be a change in colour or not.
The qualitative analysis method can be measured in different ways such as Chemical tests, flame
tests, etc. Several such tests are widely used in salt analysis (identification of the cation & anion
of inorganic salts).

Measurements

Introduction
Analytical work involves carrying out observations in regards to various objects and their
properties and the changes that take place.

2.2.1 Properties
These are the characteristics of a system or a body.
Properties can be categorized using a number of criteria such as:

[Link] Composition – Physical and chemical

Physical properties are those characteristics that can be measured and observed without
changing the atom ratios (composition) within the substance. Examples are colour, temperature
melting and boiling points, density, physical state, mass.

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Chemical properties are those characteristics that are exhibited when a change in atom ratios
occurs often associated or brought about by another substance.

[Link] Amount of matter present

Intensive properties are those characteristics that do not depend on the amount of matter present
e.g. m.p, b.p (temp), and colour.
Extensive properties depend on the amount of matter present examples are volume, mass.

[Link] Measurability

Quantitative (numerical) measurements – These are measurement of properties in which the

result is expressed as a number e.g. 1.00 cm3 of water or 19.3 g of gold. The words quantity and
data are often used as short forms of these properties.
In qualitative observations, we normally note and describe the characteristics such as odor, taste,
colour and the tendency to undergo chemical change in the presence of other substances. These
observations are obviously non-numerical. The adverbs very, less, more etc, are often used before
the characteristic to express the degree.

2.2.2 Units of measurement

The General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1960 prescribed base units to be used for
various quantities. The result is a system called Systeme International d’unites abbreviated SI.
Scientists use the metric system for recording and reporting measurements. This is the decimal
system in which all units are expressed as powers of 10 times some basic unit.
Basic units are the dimensions that form the basis of all direct measurement of fundamental
scientific quantities. The derived units are defined in terms of basic units
There are seven fundamental scientific quantities. The basic SI units for fundamental scientific
quantities are given in Table 2-1.

Table 2-1. Basic SI units

What is measured Unit of measurement System
Length meter m
Mass kilogram kg
Temperature Kelvin K
Time second s
Amount of substance mole mol
Charge coulomb C

The SI system employs a series of prefixes to indicate the decimal fractions or multiples of
various units. Table 2-2 presents the prefixes most commonly encountered in chemistry.

Table 2-2 Common SI prefixes

Prefix Symbol Multiple Example

mega- M 106 or 1,000,000 1Mm = 1x106m

kilo- k 103 or 1,000 1km = 1x103m

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 centi- c 10-2 or 1/100 1cm = 1x10-2m
milli- m 10-3 or 1/1,000 1mm = 1x10-3m
micro- mc 10-6 or 1/1,000,000 1 μm = 1x10-6m
nano- n 10-9 or 1/1,000,000,000 1nm = 1x 10-9m
pico- p 10-12 or 1/1,000,000,000,000 1pm = 1x10-12m
Femto- f 10-15 or 1/1,000,000,000,000,000 1fm = 1 x 10-15m

Although the non-SI units are phased out, there is still some information in scientific literature in
other systems. It is therefore, necessary to learn how to convert these non-SI units to SI units.

Notes:
1. The basic unit for distance is the meter. Area and volume are derived quantities.
2. Mass and weight are words that are used interchangeably in everyday speech.
Scientifically they are different:
Mass is a fundamental measure of quantity of matter in a body. Basic SI unit is the
kilogram, (kg).
Weight depends on the mass of a body and another body; it is the force (gravity) exerted
on a body by another, and so depends on the amounts of materials in the two bodies.
3. Time. Basic SI unit of time is the second(s), defined in terms of certain radiation produced
by an atom of the element cesium.
4. Temperature is the property of matter that determines whether there is energy transfer from
one body to another and the direction of that transfer. Basic SI unit for temperature is the
Kelvin, (K).

2.2.3 Dimensional Analysis

Throughout your practice of analytical chemistry, you need to use an approach called dimensional
analysis as an aid to problem solving. In dimensional analysis, we carry units through all
calculations. Units are multiplied together, divided into each other or “cancelled”. Dimensional
analysis helps to ensure that the solutions to problems yield proper units. More important though,
dimensional analysis provides a means by which problems can be solved.

The key to dimensional is the correct use of conversion factors to change one unit into another. A
conversion factor is a fraction whose numerator and denominator are different units of the same
quantity.

For example:

“There are 2.54cm per inch” or

2.54cm/1 in 1in/2.54cm

The first of these factors is used when we want to convert inches to centimeters.

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As an example: The length of an object is 8.50in. Convert the length into centimeters.

Number of centimeters = ( 8.50in) x 2.54cm/1 in = 21.6cm

Given Unit x desired unit/given unit = desired unit

37 −1 −1
𝑛𝑅𝑇 16.026 𝑚𝑜𝑙 (1𝑚𝑘) × 0.08206 L. atm. 𝐾 mol × 427𝐾
𝑝= = = 2.698 𝑎𝑡𝑚
𝑉 30 𝐿

2.2.4 Summary
1. A set of physical and chemical properties often wholly characterizes a pure substance. No
two pure substances have the same set of chemical and physical properties under the same
conditions so we can use these differences in identifying substances.
2. Very often in chemical literature measurable properties are referred to simply as quantity
or data where a numerical value is accompanied by appropriate units.
3. In using dimensional analysis to solve problems, we always ask three questions:
(i) What data are we given in the problem?
(ii) What quantity do we wish to obtain in the problem?
(iii) What conversion factors do we have to take as from the given quantity to the
desired one?
4. Measurements are made using the metric system. Special emphasis is placed on a
particular set of metric units called the SI units, based on the meter, kilogram and second
as the basic units of distance, mass and time respectively.
5. The metric system uses a set of prefixes to indicate decimal fraction or multiples of the
base 10 units.

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Laboratory Activity
EXPERIMENT I
Title: Determination of the Concentration a Solution by Volumetric Analysis.

You are required to determine the concentration of a solution of sulphuric acid (H2SO4) by titrating with
potassium hydroxide solution of known concentration.

Procedure:
Weigh 0.5g of KOH on a calibrated analytical balance; record the exact mass you measure. Dissolve the
KOH in distilled water in a 250ml volumetric flask and then add water up to 250ml mark. Pipette 25ml of
this solution into a conical flask. Add two drops of Phenolphthalein indicator. Put 50ml of the H 2SO4 (aq)
solution into a burette. Add the acid into KOH in the conical flask, while swirling all the time, unit the
indicator changes color. This is the end point. Repeat the experiment four times. Record your results to two
decimal places in the table below:

1 2 3 4
Final Burette 24.9 48.8 24.8 49.0
Reading
Initial Burette 0.0 24.0 0.0 24.0
Reading
Volume Used
(cm3)

1. (a) Calculate the (mean) volume used.

(b) Determine the precision of your results by calculating the:
(i) Standard deviation.
(ii) Variance.
(iii) Relative Standard Deviation in ppm
(iv) Co-efficient of variation.
(v) Spread.
2. (a) Calculate the number of moles of KOH that you weighed.
(b) Determine the concentration of the KOH solution you prepared in:
(i) Moles per liter.
(ii) Grams per liter.
(iii) Parts per million (ppm).
(c) Write a stoichiometric equation (balanced chemical equation) for the reaction that takes place
between H2SO4 (aq) and KOH (aq).
(d) Determine the concentration of acid that reacts with KOH in:
(i) Moles per liter.
(ii) Grams per liter.
(iii) Parts per million.
(e) What is meant by end point? How does it differ from equivalence point?
(f) The Potassium hydroxide solution you prepared has been used in this experiment as a standard
solution. What is a standard solution?