JEE Advance - Chemistry (1991 - No. 6)
STATEMENT (S): In the titration of Na2CO3 with HCl using methyl orange indicator, the volume required at the equivalence point is twice that of the acid required using phenolphthalein indicator.
EXPLANATION (E): Two moles of HCl are required for the complete neutralization of one mole of Na2CO3
Explanation
The correct answer is Option B : Both S and E are true, and E is not the correct explanation of S.
Let us examine both the statement and the explanation :
STATEMENT (S) : In the titration of Na2CO3 with HCl using methyl orange indicator, the volume required at the equivalence point is twice that of the acid required using phenolphthalein indicator.
This statement is true. When titrating Na2CO3 (sodium carbonate), which is a diprotic base, there are two stages of the neutralization reaction. The first stage is the neutralization of carbonate ion (CO32-) to bicarbonate ion (HCO3-), which is indicated by phenolphthalein changing color. Phenolphthalein changes color at a pH around 8.3, which corresponds to the first endpoint of the titration:
$$ \text{Na}_2\text{CO}_3 + \text{HCl} \rightarrow \text{NaHCO}_3 + \text{NaCl} $$
The second stage is the neutralization of bicarbonate ion to carbonic acid (H2CO3), which then decomposes into water and carbon dioxide. Methyl orange, which changes color at a pH of about 3.1 to 4.4, is used to indicate this second endpoint :
$$ \text{NaHCO}_3 + \text{HCl} \rightarrow \text{H}_2\text{CO}_3 + \text{NaCl} $$
$$ \text{H}_2\text{CO}_3 \rightarrow \text{H}_2\text{O} + \text{CO}_2 $$
Therefore, when using methyl orange, the total volume of HCl required for complete neutralization (both stages) is indeed twice the amount needed to reach the first endpoint with phenolphthalein.
EXPLANATION (E) : Two moles of HCl are required for the complete neutralization of one mole of Na2CO3.
This explanation is true. As evident from the chemical equations above, one mole of Na2CO3 requires one mole of HCl to convert to NaHCO3, and then another mole of HCl to neutralize the NaHCO3 further into H2CO3 followed by decomposition to water and CO2. Therefore, the total is two moles of HCl per mole of Na2CO3.
Although both the statement and the explanation are true, the explanation does not adequately explain why the volume of HCl is doubled with methyl orange as the indicator compared to phenolphthalein. The correct explanation should involve the different end points detected by the two indicators (phenolphthalein indicating the first stage, methyl orange the second stage), rather than the overall stoichiometry of the reaction.
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