Analytical Chemistry Laboratory

Burette Correction

ID Number: 061302856
Name: Letitia Sarah
Seat number: 53
Group B
Date of Experiment: 21 April 2016
Instructor: Prof. Yasuyuki Yamada

Objective
To calibrate burette whilst taking into consideration the room temperature and pressure
during the experiment
Procedure
1. Fill burette with distilled water using pipette, then flush water swiftly to avoid bubble
formation
2. Measure the empty Erlenmeyer flask (including stopper). Wipe wet part with kimwipe
3. Do not hold Erlenmeyer flask and stopper with bare hands (hold it with kimwipe)
4. Adjust water in burette until the scale mark hits 0
5. Add distilled water to Erlenmeyer until scale mark hits 15 cm 3.
6. Measure the mass of Erlenmeyer flask with stopper and determine the mass of distilled
water
7. Repeat procedure 2-6 for 5 times
8. Change the added water volume to 25 cm 3 and repeat procedure 2-6 for 5 times
Result
Experiment condition:
Room and water temperature: 16.5oC
Humidity: 88 %
Pressure: 1016.3 hPa
Numb
er

Volum
e

Total mass

Mass of water in
flask

Mass of
added

1
2
49.6684 g
3
15 cm3
4
49.7762 g
5
Table 1 Mass of 15 mL of water

64.6244
79.6426
94.5457
64.7297
79.6653

14.9560
29.9742
44.8773
14.9535
29.8891

g
g
g
g
g

14.9560
15.0242
14.9031
14.9535
14.9356

Numb
er

Total mass

Mass of water in
flask

Mass of
added

74.7263
99.6501
74.8526
99.8166
74.8132

24.9232
49.8470
24.9619
49.9232
24.9198

24.9198
24.9238
24.9619
24.9613
24.9198

Volum
e

Mass
of
Erlenmeyer flask
+ stopper

Mass
of
Erlenmeyer flask
+ stopper

1
49.8031 g
2
3
25 cm3
49.8907 g
4
5
49.8934 g
Table 2 Mass of 25 mL of water

g
g
g
g
g

g
g
g
g
g

g
g
g
g
g

water

g
g
g
g
g

water

g
g
g
g
g

Calculation
Q-test is first done to determine data validity for outliers. This test could be applied by using
the formula below

Q=

|suspect valuenearest value|

largest valuesmallest value

Before performing the calculation, the difference between each point data needs to be
assessed. This is because outliers tend to have the largest difference between it and the
measurement nearest to it.

15 mL water
Difference
mass (g)
(g)
14.9031
14.9356
0.0325
14.9535
0.0179
14.9560
0.0025
15.0242
0.0682
Table 3 Mass difference between each data of 15 mL mass of water
From the table above, it could be seen that the largest value difference occurred between
14.9560 and 15.0242. Hence, Q-test is performed for 15.0242.

Q=

|15.024214.9560|
15.024214.9031

=0.5632

The calculated Q value is less than the limit of Q for 5 samples, which is 0.717. Thus, the
last data in the experiment could be regarded as 95% reliable.
Next, all the survived data are being averaged.

14.9031+14.9356+14.9535+14.9560+15.0242
=14.9545
5

Average mass for 15mL of water=

This averaged value is used to calibrate the burette as they are not uniform and external
factors, such as temperature and pressure might also fluctuate the volume of water dropped
from them. The burette calibration for 15 mL of water could be calculated as follows

M ' =1000x (correction value)

x=

(2.294+ 2.452)
+ 0.0034 ( 20.016.5 ) +(762.3760) 0.0013
2

x=2.38789
'

M =10002.38789=997.61211 g
This is the mass of 1000 mL water at 16.5oC and 1016.3 hPa 762.290 mmHg
Next, the calibrated volume (V) and correction value ( V) for 15 mL water could be
calculated.

997.61211 ( g ) :1000 ( mL )=14.9545 ( g ) :V ' (mL)

V ' =14.9903 mL
V =V ' V o=9.72487 103 mL
Next, the calibrated volume (V) and correction value ( V) for 25 mL water could be
calculated using the same steps as before.
Q-test
25 mL water
mass
difference
24.9198
24.9198
0
24.9238
0.004

24.9613
0.0375
24.9619
0.0006
Table 4 Mass difference between each data of 25 mL mass of water
Because the largest difference occurred to be in the middle of the data range, Q-test could
not be performed. Instead, we could average the data.

Average mass for 25 mL of water =

24.9198+24.9198+24.9238+ 24.9613+ 24.9619

=24.9373
5

Next, the calibrated volume (V) and correction value ( V) for 25mL water could be
calculated.

997.61211 ( g ) :1000 ( mL )=24.9373 ( g ) :V ' (mL)

V ' =24.9969 mL
V =V ' V o=3.11018 103 mL
From both correction value and volume, burette calibration curve could be constructed
0
0

10

15

20

25

30

0
Correction value (mL) -0.01
-0.01
-0.01
-0.01
Volume (mL)

Figure 1 Burrete correction curve for 15 mL and 25 mL of water

The first part of the graph (0-15 mL volume) has a function of
second part of the graph (15-25 mL volume) has a function of

y=0.000648325 x

and the

y=0.00066147 x

Discussion
Calibration is the process by which a stated measure such as the volume of a container or
burette is checked for accuracy. In this experiment, 25 mL burette is about to be calibrated.
Burette calibration is necessary because the temperature and pressure in the laboratory by
the time this experiment was performed did not match the standard temperature written on
the burette.
In addition, every piece of volumetric glassware has slight variations.
Therefore, every piece of volumetric glassware must be calibrated in order to allow accurate
measurements.
In this experiment, mass of 15 mL and 25 mL of water were weighed. From the data
collected, it could be seen that the experimental mass did not match the theoretical mass of
water given that water density is 1 g/mL. Therefore, the measurements performed should
have contained errors. These errors are likely to arise from weight and volume

measurement. However, weight measurement using digital scale is less likely to contain
error compared to volume measurement using burette.
After performing calculation in the previous section, burette correction values could be
obtained as follows
3

V for 15 mL is9.72487 10 mL

V for 25 mL is3.11018 10 mL

These values could then be used to construct burette correction curve and based on the
function of the two lines (red and blue shown in previous section), they could be used to
calibrate volume in other experiment.
Reference
Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry Laboratory Guide
Introduction to the Analytical Balance and Volumetric Glassware. Retrieved from
http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/ifcheng/Chem%20253/labs/Experiment%201.pdf