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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2001  > July  >
In the Laboratory
Reduction of Calcium Concentrations by the Brita® Water Filtration System: A Practical Experiment in Titrimetry and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
Kimberly G. Olsen and Lisa J. Ulicny
Department of Chemistry, Loyola College in Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21210-2699
Cover
July 2001
Vol. 78 No. 7
p. 941
Abstract
We have examined the ability of a popular water filtration system to decrease the calcium concentration of solutions passed through the filter. The students' current interest in environmental and medical issues, combined with the scientific examination of a household item often used by the students and their families, results in a successful experiment that generates significant curiosity from the participants while they learn an important set of quantitative tools. The experiment has three parts, which examine the calcium content of standard solutions before and after treatment. The laboratory requires teamwork, titration lab work, and graphical analysis utilizing a common spreadsheet program. An additional instrumental analysis module, included in the Notes to the Instructor, brings to light some limitations of complexometric titrations, the most important being the nonspecificity of chelating molecules.
Supplement
The laboratory protocol, instructions to the student, and notes for the instructor are available.
*  Contents
*  Download
JCE2001p0941W.pdf
More Information
*  Citation
 Olsen, Kimberly G.; Ulicny, Lisa J. J. Chem. Educ. 2001 78 941.
*  Keywords
 Analytical Chemistry; Atomic Spectroscopy; Collaborative / Cooperative Learning; Coordination Chemistry; Instrumental Methods; Quantitative Analysis; Titrations/Titrimetry; Water / Water Chemistry; Laboratory Instruction
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 June 6, 2001
August 31, 2005
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