Recognition of endpoints (EP)
Want to learn more? Check out our blog post on this topic.
Like many of you, I gained my first practical titration experience during my chemistry studies in school. At this time, I learned how to perform a manual visual endpoint titration – and I can still remember exactly how I felt about it.
Using a manual buret filled with titrant, I added each drop individually to an Erlenmeyer flask that contained the sample solution (including the analyte to be measured) and the indicator which was added prior to the titration. With each drop and even slight color change of my sample solution, minutes passed with increasing uncertainty. I asked myself, ?Have I already reached the true endpoint, should I add another drop, or have I even over-titrated?? You have probably been in the same situation yourself!
Several years have passed since then, and I am glad that I no longer have to face the challenges of performing a manual titration because Metrohm offers the possibility of automated titrations.
Illustration of the same titration performed manually (left) and automatically (right).
If you want to know how to determine the endpoint in an automated titration, I will give you all the answers you need. In the following article I will cover these topics (click to go directly to each):
- Different detection principles
- Potentiometric principle
- Photometric principle
- Comparison: Optrode vs. potentiometric electrodes
You see, an autotitration is quite simple to perform and has the great advantage that a clearly defined endpoint is given.
Believe me, whenever I`m working with such a device including a suitable electrode for an automatic titration, I have a big smile on my face thinking back to my university days: Bye bye subjectivity, time-consuming procedure, economic inefficiency and non-traceability!