A student doing a titration of HNO₃ with sodium hydroxide wants to use methyl orange as an indicator. Methyl orange changes color at pH = 3.7. Which of the following will be true of this experiment? A) The concentration of HNO₃ reported will be too high. B) The concentration of HNO₃ reported will be too low. C) The concentration of HNO₃ will be reported correctly. D) The experiment cannot be done at all.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Methyl orange changes color at pH = 3.7, which is lower than the equivalence point of the titration between HNO₃ and sodium hydroxide. This means that the indicator will change color before the equivalence point is reached, resulting in an inaccurate determination of the concentration of HNO₃. Therefore, the concentration of HNO₃ reported will be too low.

A Student Doing a Titration of HNO3 with Sodium Hydroxide

A Student Doing a Titration of HNO₃ with Sodium Hydroxide