I'm doing a vinegar titration lab and i need to know how can my acetic acid in vinegar be affected if a few droops of NaOH solution is not washed down with distilled water
I assume you mean a drop (or several drops) from the buret that sticks to the side of the solution and isn't/aren't washed down. Let's look at how the calculations are done.
eqn #1. moles NaOH = M x L = ?
eqn #2. moles vinegar (acetic acid) = same as moles NaOH since the equation is a 1:1 ratio of acid/base. Then
eqn #3. M vinegar = moles vinegar/L vinegar.
If you add titrant (NaOH) from the buret and don't wash several drops down, that means you don't reach the end point so you must add more NaOH from the buret. That means volume NaOH is too much. From eqn 1, you know now moles NaOH are too much. That means from eqn 2 that apparent moles HCl are too high. From eqn 3, if moles are too high, M vinegar (concn vinegar) will be too high.
In a vinegar titration lab, the acetic acid in the vinegar can be affected if a few drops of NaOH solution are not washed down with distilled water. Here's why:
During a titration, a known concentration of a solution (in this case, NaOH) is slowly added to a solution with an unknown concentration (vinegar) until the reaction between the two is complete. The reaction between acetic acid and NaOH results in the formation of water and sodium acetate.
When a few drops of NaOH solution are not washed down with distilled water, it means that some excess NaOH might be remaining in the flask. This remaining NaOH can react with the acetic acid if the reaction is not completely finished. This can lead to an inaccurate determination of the amount of acetic acid present in the vinegar.
To avoid this issue, it is important to ensure that all the NaOH solution is successfully washed down into the flask by rinsing the burette and adding a few milliliters of distilled water to it. This helps to ensure that all reagents are completely mixed, and any excess NaOH is flushed out.
By thoroughly rinsing and washing down the NaOH solution, you can obtain more accurate results in your vinegar titration lab by preventing any potential interference from the excess NaOH.