Determination Of Ascorbic Acid

1336 Words3 Pages

Name: Wai Kwan Ng, Jason Student number: 100814 Chemistry B lab report- The determination of the mass of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) in Commercial Vitamin C tablets Date of experiment: 26/2/2014 Title: The determination of the mass of Ascorbic Acid in commercial Vitamin C tablets. Aims: To determine the molarity of cerium(IV) sulphate solution and the mass of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in tablets. Introduction Ascorbic acid is an important organic compound in nature. The chemical formula of ascorbic acid is C6H8O6 and its structure is shown in figure 1 (XIANG, et. al., accessed in 2014). It is a white solid if it is pure and a mildly acidic solution will be given out when ascorbic acid is dissolved in water (ZHANG, 2013). Fig.1: Structure of ascorbic acid Ascorbic acid is also called vitamin C and its antioxidant and metabolic properties are essential to both plants and animals. For instances, most of the deficiency-related diseases, like scurvy, can be healed by using ascorbic acid. Moreover, vitamin C is useful in improving human immunity system (ZHANG, 2013). One way that ascorbic acid functions to protect human health is that it can act as an antioxidant to react with the oxidants of the reactive oxygen species (ASARD, et.al., 2004). Reactive oxygen species refers to the reactive molecules containing oxygen and one of the examples is the hydroxyl radical (ZHANG, 2013). This kind of radical can cause damage to human health by interacting with proteins, lipids and nucleic acid in human’s cell (ASARD, et.al., 2004). Since ascorbic acid can react with these radicals, the resulting molecules will become stable and will not harm human’s cell anymore (ASARD, et.al., 2004). However, as human cannot synthesize vitamin C by themselves, t... ... middle of paper ... ...d solution of ascorbic acid. As a result, the first three titres were used even though the first one was a rough try. Conclusion To conclude, the molarity of cerium(IV) sulphate solution was found as 0.0478M by part 1 of the experiment. Moreover, one of the tablets had 63.52mg vitamin C and another tablet contained 61.42mg of vitamin C. Reference 1. ASARD H., et.al., 2004. Vitamin C: Its Functions and Biochemistry in Animals and Plants. Oxon: Garland Science/BIOS Scientific Publishers. 2. KENKEL J., 2014. Analytical Chemistry for Technicians, Fourth Edition. New York: CRC Press. 3. RAMSDEN E.N., 2000. A-Level Chemistry, Fourth Edition. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes limited. 4. XIANG C., et. al., accessed in 2014. http://cnx.org/content/m38343/latest. Webpage. 5. ZHANG Y., 2013. Ascorbic Acid in Plants: Biosynthesis, Regulation and Enhancement. London: Springer.

More about Determination Of Ascorbic Acid

Open Document