Determination of Dissociation Constants and Concentration by Microsoft Excel Solver

Abstract

The dissociation constants and concentration of an acid were determined from a titration curve by Microsoft Excel Solver. It is standard attachment of Microsoft Excel Package and a tool for solving optimization problems. A sample titration curve was obtained by the titration of citric acid solution with sodium hydroxide solution. Despite the fact that a titration curve equation is represented as a complicated non-linear equation, Solver was easily able to find a solution. As a result, the first, second and third step dissociation constants and concentration of citric acid were 1.44×10^-3, 5.15×10^-5, 2.29×10^-6M and 5.14×10^-3M, respectively. These values were sufficiently close to those in the literature and to experimental values. Calculation time for solving the problem was 8.60 second by even a personal computer with Pentium 90MHz. Since CPU is rapidly developed, Solver may become a powerful tool for problems with more variables in the near future.