The steps involved in performing a titration and titration calculation are outlined in Topic 1.2.9 Titrations
Acid-base titrations follow the same steps and are used to find the unknown concentrations of solutions of acids and bases
Acid-base indicators give information about the change in chemical environment
They change colour reversibly depending on the concentration of H+ ions in the solution
Indicators are weak acids and bases where the conjugate bases and acids have a different colour
Many acid-base indicators are derived from plants, such as litmus
Common Indicators Table
A good indicator gives a very sharp colour change at the equivalence point
In titrations is it not always possible to use two colour indicators because of this limitation, so for example litmus cannot be used successfully in a titration
When phenolphthalein is used, it is usually better to have the base in the burette because it is easier to see the sudden and permanent appearance of a colour (pink in this case) than the change from a coloured solution to a colourless one
Exam Tip
Make sure you learn the colours of the common acid-base indicato