A student is titrating an acidic solution of unknown concentration with sodium hydroxide. They do not know what the acid is, and therefore they do not know how many acidic hydrogens the acid has. Will they be able to accurately determine the concentration of the acid? Explain why or why not
No, the student will not be able to accurately determine the concentration of the acid without knowing how many acidic hydrogens the acid has. The concentration of the acid can be calculated by using the balanced chemical equation and the stoichiometry of the reaction between the acid and sodium hydroxide. In order to accurately calculate the concentration of the acid, the balanced equation should provide the ratio of moles of acid to moles of sodium hydroxide. Since the student does not know how many acidic hydrogens the acid has, they will not be able to determine the correct ratio and therefore the accurate concentration of the acid.
