Austin Community College Chemistry

Saul Sanchez Experiment 8

Title: Determination of Equilibrium Constant (Method 1)

Goal: To determine the value of Kc for the equilibrium reaction below and to verify that Kc is
constant at constant temperature. This will be done by mixing various concentrations of the
reactants, and determining Kc in each case.
Fe3+(aq) + SCN-(aq) <____> FeSCN2+(aq)

Since this complex ion is red, we can measure the intensity of the red color using a
spectrophotometer. Specifically, we will measure absorbance, which is a measure of how much
light at the specified wavelength is absorbed.
Now, we need to relate the measured absorbance to concentration. Data for a calibration
curve will be provided. The student will graph this data, and will result in a straight-line curve.

Procedure:
Method I:
1) Label 5 test tubes. Pour about 30 ml 2.00x10-3 M Fe(NO3)3 in 1 M HNO3 into a dry 100
ml beaker.
2) Pipet 5.00 ml of that solution into each test tube. Then add about 20 ml 2.0x10-3 M KSCN
to another dry 100 ml beaker.
3) Pipet 1,2,3,4 and 5 ml from the KSCN beaker into each of the corresponding test tubes
labeled 1 to 5. Then pipet the proper number of milliliters of water into each test tube to
bring the total volume in each tube to 10.00 ml. Mix each solution with a glass-stirring
rod.
4) Place a portion of the mixture in tube 1 in a spectrophotometer cell, and measure the
absorbance of the solution at 447 nm. Determine the concentration of FeSCN2+ from the
calibration curve provided for each instrument or from your equation. Record the value
on the data sheet.

Test Tube No.

1 2 3 4 5
Volume of Fe(NO3)3 ml 5.00 3.00 5.00 5.00 5.00
Volume of KSCN ml 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00
Volume of H2O ml - - - - -
 Austin Community College Chemistry

Method II:
1) Prepare a solution of known [FeSCN2+] by pipetting 10.00 ml 0.200 M Fe(NO3)3 in 1 M
HNO3 into a test tube and adding 2.00 ml 0.00200 M KSCN and 8.00 ml water. Mix the
solution with stirring rod.
2) Assuming that all SCN- is converted to FeSCN2+ calculate [FeSCN2+] in the standard
solution and record the value on the data page.
3) The [FeSCN2+] in the unknown mixture in test tubes 1 to 5 is found by comparing the red
color intensity in there mixtures with that of the standard solution.
4) Pour out the standard solution into a dry, clean beaker until the color intensity you see
down the tube containing the standard matches what you see when looking down the tube
with the unknown. Use a wall-lit piece of white paper as your background.
5) When the colors match the following relation is valid:
[FeSCN2+]unknown x depth of unknown solution = [FeSCN2+] x depth of standard solution.
6) Measure the depths of the matching solutions with a ruler and record them. Repeat
measurements for mixtures 2-5, recording the depth of each unknown and that of the
standard solution which matches its intensity.