Where the precipitate is small, it is better to ignite strongly over the blowpipe, and weigh directly as lime. With larger quantities, and when many determinations have to be made, it is easier to make the determination volumetrically.
VOLUMETRIC METHODS.
These are carried out either by dissolving the oxalate at once in dilute sulphuric acid, and titrating with permanganate of potassium solution; or by calcining it to a mixture of lime and carbonate, and determining its neutralising power with the standard solutions of acid and alkali.
Titration with Permanganate of Potassium Solution.—This solution is made by dissolving 5.643 grams of the salt in water, and by diluting to 1 litre; 100 c.c. are equivalent to 0.5 gram of lime. The solution is standardised by titrating a quantity of oxalic acid about equivalent to the lime present in the assay; 0.5 gram of lime is equivalent to 1.125 gram of crystallised oxalic acid. The standardising may be done with iron. The standard found for iron multiplied by 0.5 gives that for lime.
The process is as follows:—The calcium oxalate (having been precipitated and washed, as in the gravimetric process) is washed through the funnel into a flask with hot dilute sulphuric acid, boiled till dissolved, diluted to 200 c.c. with water, and heated to about 80° C. The standard solution of "permanganate" is then run in, (not too quickly, and with constant shaking) until a permanent pink tinge is produced. The c.c. used multiplied by the standard, and divided by the weight of the substance taken, will give the percentage of lime.
Estimation of Lime by Alkalimetry.—The methods of determining the amount of an alkali or base by means of a standard acid solution, or, conversely, of determining an acid by means of a standard alkaline solution, are so closely related that they are best considered under one head. The same standard solution is applicable for many purposes, and, consequently, it is convenient to make it of such strength that one litre of it shall equal an equivalent in grams of any of the substances to be determined. Such solutions are termed normal. For example, a solution of hydrochloric acid (HCl = 36.5) containing 36.5 grams of real acid per litre, would be normal and of equivalent strength to a solution containing either 17 grams of ammonia (NH3 = 17) or 40 grams of sodic hydrate (NaHO = 40) per litre. It will be seen in these cases that the normal solution contains the molecular weight in grams per litre; and, if solutions of these strengths be made, it will be found that they possess equal neutralising value.
If, now, a solution containing 98 grams of sulphuric acid (H2SO4 = 98) per litre be made, it will be found to have twice the strength of the above solution, that is, 100 c.c. of the soda would only require 50 c.c. of the acid to neutralise it. The reason for this will be seen on inspecting the equations:—
NaHO + HCl = NaCl + H2O.
2NaHO + H2SO4 = Na2SO4 + 2H2O.
Acids like sulphuric acid are termed bibasic, and their equivalent is only half the molecular weight. Thus, a normal solution of sulphuric acid would contain 49 grams (98/2) of real acid per litre. Similarly, lime and most of the bases are bibasic, as may be seen from the following equations; hence their equivalent will be half the molecular weight.
2HCl + CaO = CaCl2 + H2O.
2HCl + MgO = MgCl2 + H2O.