Ethanol was used in the solutions to help dissolve the acetylsalicylic acid. Ethanol is slightly acidic, and

Question

will react with NaOH. Describe a blank correction experiment; i.e., what experiment you might do to
determine how much NaOH reacts with the ethanol in your solution. Once you have determined this,
how would you use the results of a blank correction experiment in the data analysis?

Answer 1

Blank corrections are useful in correcting titrations in which some unwanted side reactions occur. IN this case, measure the amount of ethanol used in the experiment, add indicator, and titrate with the NaOH until the indicator changes color. The mL NaOH added is the blank correction; subtract this amount from the total NaOH used in the tiration and proceed with the usual calculations after that.