Vernier Software & Technology

# Determining the Ksp of Calcium Hydroxide

## Introduction

Calcium hydroxide is an ionic solid that is sparingly soluble in water. A saturated, aqueous, solution of Ca(OH)2 is represented in equation form as shown below.

${\text{Ca(OH}}{{\text{)}}_{\text{2}}}{\text{ }}(s) \leftrightarrow {\text{C}}{{\text{a}}^{{\text{2 + }}}}{\text{ (aq) + 2O}}{{\text{H}}^{{\text{ - }}}}{\text{(aq)}}$

The solubility product expression describes, in mathematical terms, the equilibrium that is established between the solid substance and its dissolved ions in an aqueous system. The equilibrium expression for calcium hydroxide is shown below.

${K_{sp}} = [{\text{C}}{{\text{a}}^{{\text{2 + }}}}{\text{][O}}{{\text{H}}^{\text{ - }}}{]^2}$

The constant that illustrates a substance’s solubility in water is called the Ksp. All compounds, even the highly soluble sodium chloride, have a Ksp. However, the Ksp of a compound is commonly considered only in cases where the compound is very slightly soluble and the amount of dissolved ions is not simple to measure.

Your primary objective in this experiment is to test a saturated solution of calcium hydroxide and use your observations and measurements to calculate the Ksp of the compound. You will do this by titrating the prepared Ca(OH)2 solution with a standard hydrochloric acid solution. By determining the molar concentration of dissolved hydroxide ions in the saturated Ca(OH)2 solution, you will have the necessary information to calculate the Ksp.

## Objectives

In this experiment, you will

• Titrate a saturated Ca(OH)2 solution with a standard HCl solution.
• Calculate the Ksp of Ca(OH)2.

## Sensors and Equipment

This experiment features the following Vernier sensors and equipment.

### Option 2

You may also need an interface and software for data collection. What do I need for data collection?

## Advanced Chemistry with Vernier

See other experiments from the lab book.

 1 The Determination of a Chemical Formula 2 The Determination of the Percent Water in a Compound 3 The Molar Mass of a Volatile Liquid 4 Using Freezing-Point Depression to Find Molecular Weight 5 The Molar Volume of a Gas 6 Standardizing a Solution of Sodium Hydroxide 7 Acid-Base Titration 8 An Oxidation-Reduction Titration: The Reaction of Fe2+ and Ce4+ 9 Determining the Mole Ratios in a Chemical Reaction 10 The Determination of an Equilibrium Constant 11 Investigating Indicators 12 The Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide 13 Determining the Enthalpy of a Chemical Reaction 14A Separation and Qualitative Analysis of Cations 14B Separation and Qualitative Analysis of Anions 15A The Synthesis of Alum 15B The Analysis of Alum 16 Conductimetric Titration and Gravimetric Determination of a Precipitate 17 Determining the Concentration of a Solution: Beer's Law 18 Liquid Chromatography 19 Buffers 20 Electrochemistry: Voltaic Cells 21 Electroplating 22 The Synthesis and Analysis of Aspirin 23 Determining the Ksp of Calcium Hydroxide 24 Determining Ka by the Half-Titration of a Weak Acid 25 The Rate and Order of a Chemical Reaction 26 The Enthalpy of Neutralization of Phosphoric Acid 27 α, β, and γ 28 Radiation Shielding 29 The Base Hydrolysis of Ethyl Acetate 30 Exploring the Properties of Gases 31 Determining Avogadro's Number 32 Potentiometric Titration of Hydrogen Peroxide 33 Determining the Half-Life of an Isotope 34 Vapor Pressure and Heat of Vaporization 35 Rate Determination and Activation Energy

### Experiment 23 from Advanced Chemistry with Vernier Lab Book

#### Included in the Lab Book

Vernier lab books include word-processing files of the student instructions, essential teacher information, suggested answers, sample data and graphs, and more.