Is titration suitable for sodium nitrate?

Question

Henry Antrim · Accepted Answer

Acid-base titration would not be suitable for #NaNO_3#.

The nitrate ion, #NO_3^-#, is a very weak base that would be protonated only under strongly acidic conditions. Therefore, acid-base titration would be an unsuitable method to analyze #NaNO_3# solutions.

Mateo Aguilar · Answer

Maybe a redox titration, you'll probably need to heat the solution before doing it though.

As the previous answerer said, an acid base titration wouldn't be suitable for #NaNO_3# if water is the solvent, as #NO_3^-# is too weak a base to change the pH to make a titration suitable. The same goes for #Na^+# but being too weak an acid. #NO_3^-# has no insoluble salts, or at least no common insoluble salts, so we can't do a precipitation titration either. #Na^+# has this same trouble. #NO_3^-# isn't a good coordinating agent so a complexation titration isn't viable either. There is a complexating agent for #Na^+# and other alkali metals, but it's rarely used and expensive so it isn't worth considering. #Na^+# won't reduce to #Na^0# easily, and if it does it'll react with water violently so it isn't a good idea to do it either. #NO_3^-# does have a redox reaction though, #NO_3^(-) + 3H^+ +2e^(-) harr HNO_2 + H_2O# #E_(red)^0 = 0,94# Which could theoretically be coupled with #I^-# to produce #I_3^-# which can then be titrated with #S_2O_3^-2#. #3I^(-) harr I_3^(-) + 2e^(-)# #E_(o.x)^0 = -0,536# That being said, I'm not sure if the #DeltaE# would be big enough outside of standard conditions. #E^0# values copied from Skoog's fundamentals of Analytic Chemistry

Avery Adams · Answer

undefined Yes, titration is suitable for sodium nitrate. Titration can be used to determine the concentration of sodium nitrate solution by reacting it with a known concentration of another solution, typically an acid or a base, until the reaction is complete.