Back titration

A back titration, or indirect titration, is generally a two-stage analytical technique: a. Reactant A of unknown concentration is reacted with excess reactant B of known concentration. b. A titration is then performed to determine the amount of reactant B in excess.

Key Concepts Back titrations are used when: one of the reactants is volatile, for example ammonia. an acid or a base is an insoluble salt, for example calcium carbonate a particular reaction is too slow direct titration would involve a weak acid - weak base titration (the end-point of this type of direct titration is very difficult to observe)

Back titration is a titration done in reverse; instead of titrating the original sample, a known excess of standard reagent is added to the solution, and the excess is titrated. A back titration is useful if the endpoint of the reverse titration is easier to identify than the endpoint of the normal titration, as with precipitation reactions. Back titrations are also useful if the reaction between the analyte and the titrant is very slow, or when the analyte is in a non-soluble solid Kjeldahl method: A measure of nitrogen content in a sample. Organic nitrogen is digested into ammonia with sulfuric acid and potassium sulfate. Finally, ammonia is back titrated with boric acid and then sodium carbonate