Is the pH always 7 at the equivalence point of a titration?
No, almost never. The equivalence point is a condition of stoichiometry, not of neutrality: it is the product formed that sets the pH. Titrating a weak acid leaves its conjugate base in solution, so the pH is basic, often around 8.7. Titrating a weak base leaves its conjugate acid, so the pH is acidic. The pH is 7 only if the acid and the base are both strong.
How do you read the pKa on a titration curve?
You locate the equivalence volume, divide it by two, and read the pH at that volume: it is exactly the pKa. At the half-equivalence point, half of the acid has been converted to its conjugate base, so the two forms are present in equal amounts and the logarithmic term of the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation vanishes. No calculation, no concentration needed.
What happens when you dilute a buffer solution?
Its pH hardly changes, because the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation involves only the ratio of the two forms, and the dilution divides both by the same factor. Its buffer index, however, is divided in the same proportion as the dilution: the pH holds, the robustness does not. Below about one millimole per litre, the equation even stops being reliable.
How do you choose the right acid-base indicator?
You first calculate the pH at the equivalence point, then choose an indicator whose transition range brackets that value and fits entirely inside the pH jump. For a weak acid titrated with a strong base, the equivalence point is basic and phenolphthalein is needed. Using methyl orange in that case throws the titration off by nearly seventy percent.
Does a buffer keep the pH constant whatever amount of acid is added?
No. A buffer has a finite capacity, set by the amount of each of its two forms. When one is used up, the buffer is broken and the pH swings abruptly. It cushions, it does not lock. Its efficiency is greatest when the pH equals the pKa, and it has already lost about two thirds of its value one unit away.
Why do a back titration rather than a direct titration?
Because the direct reaction is sometimes too slow, incomplete, or involves a solid. A known excess of reagent is then added, the reaction is allowed to go to completion, and the excess is titrated. The quantity sought is obtained by difference. It is the standard method for analyzing an antacid tablet, whose carbonate dissolves too slowly.