What is a titration and how is it related to acid-base equilibria?

A titration is a laboratory technique used to determine the concentration of a solution. It is related to acid-base equilibria because it is commonly used to determine the concentration of an acid or a base in a solution.

During a titration, a solution of known concentration, called the titrant, is added to a solution of unknown concentration, called the analyte. The titrant is slowly added to the analyte until the reaction between the two is complete. This is indicated by a change in colour of an indicator or by a change in pH. The point at which the reaction is complete is called the equivalence point.

In acid-base titrations, the equivalence point is reached when the number of moles of acid equals the number of moles of base in the solution. This is known as neutralisation. The concentration of the analyte can be calculated from the volume and concentration of the titrant used and the stoichiometry of the reaction.

Titration curves can be plotted to show the change in pH of the solution as the titrant is added. These curves can be used to identify the equivalence point and to determine the pKa of the acid or base being titrated.

Titration is an important technique in analytical chemistry and is used to determine the concentration of a wide range of substances, including acids, bases, and salts. It is also used in the pharmaceutical industry to determine the purity of drugs and in environmental monitoring to determine the concentration of pollutants in water samples.