AustinPeayStateUniversityDepartmentofChemistry

CHEM1021

ANALYSISOFVITAMINC
Purpose
TolearnhowtoanalyzefoodforvitaminCcontentandtoexaminevarioussourcesfor
vitaminCcontent.
Caution
Handletheglasswarewithcautiontopreventbreakage.Whenusingaburnerinthelaboratory,be
absolutelysurethatloosehairandclothingdonotcomeclosetotheflame.Itiseasytoforgetthis
simplerulewhenconcentratingonmeasurements.Thesolutionsusedinthisexperimentarenot
particularlycaustictotheskinifwashedoffimmediately,buttheKIO3andHClcanbothdamageeye
tissue.Wearyourgogglesatalltimes.Besurethegasisturnedoffcompletelywhenyouarethrough
withitsinceinaclosedlaboratoryasmallgasleakcancreateanexplosivemixture.Eventhoughthe
substancesbeinganalyzedarefoodstuffs,donottasteoreatanyofthematerialsastheymaybecome
contaminatedwithundesiredchemicals.
Introduction
Vitamins are complex organic molecules required in small amounts by the body in order to maintain
health and wellbeing. Generally, the daily requirements of the various vitamins are very small
quantities, but whenever these small quantities are not available, the body cannot function properly.
For example, if a persons diet does not include a sufficient amount of vitamin C (the Food and Drug
Administration recommends around 50 milligrams per day per person) a disease called scurvy results,
whichcausessorestodevelopinandaroundthemouthandgums.IfenoughvitaminAisnotavailable,
boneswillnotgrowproperly(amongotherproblems)andthiswillleadtoamaladycalledrickets.
VitaminCisalsoknownasascorbicacid,andhasthestructureshownbelow:

InthisexperimentyouwilllearntoanalyzeasampleofmaterialforvitaminCcontent.Theanalysis
makesuseofthereducingqualitiesofthevitaminC.Bothiodide(I)ionsandiodate(IO3)ionsare
addedtoasolutioncontainingthevitaminC.Theiodideandiodateionsreactwitheachothertoform
elementaliodine(I2)(Equation1).Theascorbicacid(vitaminC,C6H8O6)quicklyreactstoreduceI2toI,
destroyingthevitaminCintheprocess(Equation2).WhenallofthevitaminChasreacted,thenext
tinyamountofI2formedreactswithasmallamountofstarch,whichhasbeenaddedasanindicator,to

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produceadeepbluecolor(Equation3).Theiodate(asKIO3solution)isaddedwithaburet,andtheblue
coloroftheresultingstarchiodineproductsignalstheendpointofthetitration.

IO3+5I+6H+3I2+3H2O

(1)

I2+C6H8O6C6H8O6*+2H++2I

(2)

I2+starch(I2.starch)(deepbluecolor)

(3)

oxidizedproductofvitaminC

Equipment:
250mLconicalflask
400mLbeaker

100mLbeaker

50mLburetwithstand
glassstirringrod

analyticalbalance

balance

mortarandpestle

500mgvitaminCtablets
5.00x102MKIO3solution
0.60MKIsolution
1.0MHClsolution
starchindicatorsolution(freshlyprepared)
naturalvitaminCsource(s)
cheesecloth

Procedure
Numbersinparenthesesrefertoentrynumbersonthedatasheet.
PARTA:ANALYSISOFCOMMERICALVITAMINCTABLETS
Weighasmallpieceofpaperonananalyticalbalance(1).Thenplacea500mgvitaminCtabletonthe
paperandweighthetwotogether(2).Whatdoesthetabletactuallyweigh(3)?
Dissolvethetabletinabout150mLofdistilledwaterusinga250mLconicalflask.Crushthetablet
carefullywithastirringrodtohelpitdissolvefaster.Notethatsomeinsolublematerialremainsfrom
thetablet.Howdoesthisrelatetotheweightofthetabletnotedabove?
Addtotheflask5mLof1.0MHCL(thisspeedsupthereactionbetweentheIandtheIO3),10mLof
0.60MKIsolution,and2dropsoffreshlypreparedstarchindicatorsolution.
Clean,rinse,andfillaburetwith5.0x102MKIO3solutionandtakeaninitialburetreading(4).Carefully
addKIO3solutionfromtheburetuntilthesolutiontakesonapermanentbluishpurplecolor.Record
thefinalburetreading(5).WhatisthevolumeoftheKIO3solutionrequiredforthetitration(6)?

Calculatethetitrevalueofthetablet(thetitrevalueforasubstanceisthevolumeoftitrantdividedby

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theweightofthesample)(7).Forexample,ifyourtabletweighed0.6012gandrequired22.45mlof
KIO3solutionfortitration,thetirevaluewouldbecalculatedasshownbelow:
22.45mL/0.6012g=37.34mL/g

ThetirevaluecanbeusedasameasureofpurityorforcomparingtheamountofvitaminCindifferent
sources.
Repeattheanalysiswithasecondtablet,andcompareyourtitrevalues(814).
Weighathirdtabletanddissolveitindistilledwaterasbefore.Boilthesolutionfor15minutes;coolit
toroomtemperature;addtheKI,HCl,andstarchasbefore.Titratetotheblueendpoint(1521).Is
vitaminCaffectedappreciablybycooking(22)?

PARTB:ANALYSISOFNATURALSOURCESOFVITAMINC
Instructionsaregivenbelowforanalyzingseveralnaturalproductsforvitamincontent.Yourinstructor
willassignparticularproductstobeanalyzed(23and29).(Differentstudentsmayanalyzedifferent
productssothatmorefoodsmaybeexaminedbytheclass.)
Becarefulwiththesetitrations.Onlysmallamountsoftitrantwillbeneededineachcase.

1.Citrusjuices:Mostcitrusjuicescontainpulpfromthefruit,whichmakestheendpointhardtosee.
Removethepulpbeforeusingthejuicebystrainingthejuicethroughcheesecloth.Thenmeasureout
100mLofthejuice(24),add50mLofdistilledwater,5mLof1.0MHCl,10mLofKIsolution,and4
dropsofstarch.Titratecarefullyasbefore(25and26).Remember,thecolorofthesolutionwillbea
compositeofthejuicecolorandthecoloroftheindicator.Theendpointwillbeindicatedbyacolor
change,butnotnecessarilytopurple.
Juicesonecanuse(andcompare)includefreshandfrozenorangejuice,reconstitutedlemonjuice,
vitaminCenrichedfruitdrinkssuchasHiCorTang,grapefruitjuice,etc.

2.FruitsandVegetables:Weighoutabout100goffruitorvegetable(30).Crushwithamortarand
pestletobreakdownthecellularstructure,thenwashjuiceandpulpintoa400mLbeaker.Filltothe
150mLmarkandboilfor15minutes.Cool,strainthroughcheesecloth,andanalyzeinthefashionas
forthefruitjuices(31and32).
OnecandetermineavalueforthevitaminCcontentofthefoodstuffsasfollows.Assumingthetablets
containedexactly500mgofvitaminC(TheFoodandDrugAdministrationhassomethingtosayabout
this!),onecandeterminetheamountofvitaminCinthesampleoffoodtitratedusingasampleratio

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method.ThevolumeoftitrantneededforthefoodsampleshouldbeinthesameratiotothevitaminC
inthefoodasthevolumeneededforthetabletistothevitaminCinthetablet.
EXAMPLECALCULATION:

500mgvitaminC=?mgvitaminC
vol.titrantneedfortabletvol.titrantneededforfood

Supposeyour500mgtablettook22.45mLoftitrant,andthesampleoffoodrequired3.45mLof
titrant.ThevitaminCinthefoodsamplewouldbe

500mg=?mg(food)

22.45mL
3.45mL
?mg(food)=(500mg)x(3.45mL)=76.8mg(infood)
22.45mL
DeterminethevitaminCcontentofeachofthefoodsanalyzed(28and34).

WasteDisposalandCleanup:Disposeofsolutionsaccordingtotheinstructionsofyourlabinstructor.
Cleanallglasswarethoroughlyandreturntotheiroriginallocations.

ReferencesforImages
http://www.3dchem.com/imagesofmolecules/vitaminc.jpg,AccessedJanuary12,2011
http://arthritisalternativetreatment.com/wpcontent/uploads/2009/07/vitaminc1.png,AccessedJanuary12,2011

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CHEM1021

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DATASHEET

Name:______________________________________
Partner:_____________________________________
PARTA

Tablet1

Tablet2

Tablet3(boiled)

Weightofpaper(g)

1.__________ 8.__________ 15.__________

Paper+tablet(g)

2.__________ 9.__________ 16.__________

Weightoftablet(g)

3.__________ 10._________ 17.__________

Initialburetreading(mL)

4.__________ 11._________ 18.__________

Finalburetreading(mL)

5.__________12._________19.__________

VolumeofKIO3(mL)

6.__________13._________20.__________

Titrevalue

7.__________14._________21.__________

22._____________________________________________________________________
PARTB

NaturalProduct1NaturalProduct2
(citrusjuice)(Fruitorvegetable)

Product

23.__________29.__________

Volume(mL)orwt.(g)

24.__________30.__________

Initialburetreading(mL)

25.__________31.__________

Finalburetreading(mL)

26.__________32.__________

VolumeofKIO3(mL)

27.__________33.__________

VitaminCcontent

28.__________34.__________

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POSTLABQUESTIONS
Name:__________________________________

Partner:________________________________

1.WhenweighingthevitaminCtabletinthisexperiment,studentsfrequentlyfindthatitweighsmore
thanthestatedvalue.Forexample,a500mgtabletmightweighmorethan500mg.Explain.

2.OftenwhendissolvingvitaminCtabletssomeofthetabletdoesnotdissolve.Doesthismeanthat
somevitaminCcannotbedissolvedoristhereanotherexplanation?

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CHEM1021

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PRELABASSIGNMENT

Name:_________________________________

1.Whatprecautionshouldbetakenifanyofthesolutionsinthisexperimentarespilledonyourskin?

________________________________________________________________________

2.Whyshouldyounottasteanysubstanceusedinthisexperiment?
________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

3.WhatsubstanceactuallyreactswiththevitaminCinthisreactionandwhatisthevitaminC
convertedinto?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

4.Inthisreaction,atitervalueisdetermined.Whatisthetitervalue?

________________________________________________________________________

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