A secondary standard is a substance which may be used for standardizations, and whose content of the active substance has been found by comparison against a primary standard.
It follows that; a secondary standard solution is a solution in which the concentration of dissolved solute has not been determined from the weight of the compound dissolved but by reaction of a volume of the solution against a measured volume of a primary standard solution.
A primary standard should satisfy the following requirements:
1. Purity:
It should be available in highly pure form. It should also preserve in a pure state.
2. Stability:
It should be stable (at 110˚c- 120˚c). There is no chemical change occurred.
3. Unaltered:
The substance should be unaltered in air during weighing, this condition implies that it should be hygroscopic, oxidized by air, or affected by CO2.The standard should maintain an unchanged composition during storage.
4. Test procedure:
The substance should be capable of being tested for impurities by qualitative and other tests of known sensitivity. (The total amount of impurities should not exceed 0.01%-0.02%)
5. Molecular weight:
It should have a high molecular weight so that the weighing errors may be negligible.
6. Solubility:
It must be readily soluble in the solvent.
7. Titration error:
The reaction with the standard solution should be stoichiometric and practically instantaneous. The titration error should be negligible, or easy to determine accurately by experiment.
A primary standard is a compound of sufficient purity from which a standard solution can be prepared by direct weighing of a quantity of it, followed by dilution to give a defined volume of solution.
Normality of a solution is defined as the number of equivalents of solute per litre of solution. It is denoted by ‘N’.
In titrimetry certain chemicals are used frequently in defined concentration as reference solution. Such substances are referred as primary standards or Secondary standards.
A standard solution is one, which contains a known weight of the reagent in a definite volume of solution, and for many years concentrations were expressed in terms of molarity (i.e., number of moles per litre) and normality (i.e., number of equivalents per litre).
So, the standard solutions are now commonly expressed in terms of molar concentration or molarity (M).
The solution of accurately known strength is called the standard solution. Standard solutions are expressed by normality (N), molarity (M) etc.
Titrand & Titrant:
In titrimetric analysis the regent of known strength is called ‘Titrant’ and the substance being titrated is called ‘Titrand’. ‘Titrant’ taken in Burette and ‘Titrand’ taken in conical flask.
Example: If a known volume of NaOH solution is titrated with 0.1N HCl, then NaOH solution called ‘Titrand’ and HCl solution called ‘Titrant’.
Titration:
The process of adding standard solution to an unknown solution until the reaction is complete i.e. until the end point is achieved is termed as titration.
Equivalence/End point:
The point at which all the reagent of unknown solution (Titrand) react with known solution (Titrant) is called ‘Equivalence’ or ‘End point’.
At the end point, titration is detected by some physical change (usually color change) produced by indicator.
Indicator:
Indicator is a standard solution, which changes its color at the end point of a titration, or indicator is an organic dye that signals the end point by visual change in color.
Actually indicator formed a complex with excess Titrant, which added after the end point and change their color. For example-
Phenolphthalein in acidic solution
No color change
Addition of base excess than end point
Phenolphthalein in basic solution
Color change due to Phenolphthalein formed complex with base
Titration error:
100% accurate measure is impossible. Practical value and theoretical value is never same.
So, the difference between the theoretical value and practical value of a titration is known as Titration error.
i.e. Titration error = Theoretical value – Practical value.
Example: If the theoretical value of a titration is 5 but the examination value or practical value is 4.91.
Then titration error = 5 – 4.91
= 0.09
Condition of titrimetric analysis:
For use in titrimetric analysis a reaction must fulfill some conditions. They are as follows –
1.Chemical equation:
There must be a simple reaction, which can be expressed by a chemical equation. The substance to be determined should react completely with the reagent in stoichiometric (molar basis) or equivalent proportions.
NaOH + HClNaCl + H2O
2.Fast:
The reaction should be relatively fast. In some cases the addition of a catalyst may be necessary to increase the speed of a reaction.
3.Alteration of physical condition:
At the end point there must be a change in some physical condition.
4.Indicator:
An indicator should be available which, by a change in physical properties (color or formation of a precipitate), should sharply define the end point of the reaction.
The term ‘Titrimetric Analysis’ refers to quantitative chemical analysis carried out by determining the volume of a solution of accurately known concentration, which is required to react quantitatively with a measured volume of a solution of the substance to be determined. In Titrimetric Analysis, the substance to be determined is allowed to react with an appropriate reagent added as a standard solution, and the volume of solution needed for complete reaction is determined. The common types of reaction which find use in titrimetry are.. Neutralization (acid-base) reactions, Complex-forming reactions Precipitation reactions Oxidation-reduction reactions.