Gravimetric analysis methods determine the mass of a compound to quantify the analyte. Precipitation gravimetry is the most common method, where the analyte is precipitated from solution and the precipitate is filtered, dried, and weighed. Ideal precipitates are easily filtered, insoluble, and have a known composition. Factors like particle size, supersaturation, and electrolyte addition affect precipitation and coprecipitation. Other gravimetric methods include volatilization, where the analyte is converted to a known gas, electrogravimetry by electrodeposition, and thermogravimetry which measures mass changes with temperature.

1. Module 10
GRAVIMETRY

2. Gravimetric methods are quantitative methods that are based on determining the
mass of a pure compound to which the analyte is chemically related. Analysis method
that is based on mass.
Gravimetry includes any analytical method in which the ultimate measurement is by
weight. The simplest form may merely be the drying or heating of a sample in order to
determine its volatile and non-volatile components, or possibly the sample might be
distilled and the residue and fractions of distillate weighed. Metals may be deposited
electrolytically and weighed. Of far greater scope and importance is the controlled
precipitation of an analyte from solution, followed by the weighing of the precipitate.
Subsequent attention will be restricted to these precipitation methods.

3. Advantages of Gravimetric Analysis:
● If the methods are followed carefully, it provides exceedingly precise analysis.
● It is used to determine the atomic masses of many elements to six-figure
accuracy.
● It provides a little room for instrumental error and does not require a series of
standards for calculation of an unknown.
Disadvantage of Gravimetric Analysis:
● It usually provides only for the analysis of a single element, or a limited group
of elements at a time.

4. a. Principles - Solution reaction between analytes and reagents to give sparingly soluble
products; filtration, drying or ignition of precipitates; electrolytic deposition of metals;
weighing. Precipitation method is the most common.
b. Apparatus - Flasks, beakers, filter funnels, pipettes, filter crucibles, filter papers, oven,
muffle furnace, chemical balance, desiccator.
a. Applications - In Analytical chemistry, this is a way of determining the analyte based on
the density of a solid. Example: Measuring the solids suspended in the water sample. The
collected solids are weighed until a known water volume is purified.
Relative precision 0.1–1%.
d. Disadvantages - Requires careful and time-consuming procedures with scrupulously clean
apparatus and very accurate weighing. Coprecipitation cannot always be avoided.

5. STEPS OF A GRAVIMETRY ANALYSIS:
Preparation of
the sample
Precipitation Digestion
Filtration and
Washing
Drying or
Ignition
Weighing
Calculation

7. Types of Gravimetric Analysis:
1. Precipitation gravimetry
2. Volatilization gravimetry
3. Electrogravimetry
4. Thermogravimetry

8. Types of Gravimetric Analysis:
1. Precipitation gravimetry, the analyte is separated from a solution of the sample as a
precipitate and is converted to a compound of known composition that can be weighed.
In precipitation gravimetry, the analyte is converted to a sparingly soluble precipitate. This
precipitate is then filtered, washed free of impurities, converted to a product of known composition
by suitable heat treatment, and weighed.
a. Properties of Precipitates and Precipitating Reagents - Ideally, a gravimetric precipitating
agent should react specifically or at least selectively with the analyte. Specific reagents, which
are rare, react only with a single chemical species. Selective reagents, which are more common,
react with a limited number of species. In addition to specificity and selectivity, the ideal
precipitating reagent would react with the analyte to give a product that is
● easily filtered and washed free of contaminants;
● of sufficiently low solubility that no significant loss of the analyte occurs during filtration and
washing;
● unreactive with constituents of the atmosphere;
● of known chemical composition after it is dried or, if necessary, ignited

9. b. Particle Size and Filterability of Precipitates - Precipitates consisting of large particles are
generally desirable for gravimetric work because these particles are easy to filter and wash free of
impurities. In addition, precipitates of this type are usually purer than are precipitates made up of fine
particles
o Factors That Determine the Particle Size of Precipitates
● The particle size of solids formed by precipitation varies enormously. At one
extreme are colloidal suspensions, whose tiny particles are invisible to the naked
eye (10-7 to 10-4 cm in diameter). Colloidal particles show no tendency to settle from
solution and are difficult to filter. At the other extreme are particles with dimensions
on the order of tenths of a millimeter or greater.
● The temporary dispersion of such particles in the liquid phase is called a crystalline
suspension. The particles of a crystalline suspension tend to settle spontaneously
and are easily filtered.
● Tyndall effect is the phenomenon where particles of colloidal dimensions scatter
visible radiation, the path of the beam through the solution can be seen by the eye
● A supersaturated solution is an unstable solution that contains a higher solute
concentration than a saturated solution. As excess solute precipitates with time,
supersaturation decreases to zero

10. i. Mechanism of Precipitate Formation - The effect of relative supersaturation on
particle size can be explained if we assume that precipitates form in two ways: by
nucleation and by particle growth. The particle size of a freshly formed precipitate is
determined by the mechanism that predominates.
● Nucleation is a process in which a minimum number of atoms, ions,
or molecules join together to give a stable solid. There’s few ions,
atoms, or molecules (perhaps as few as four or five) come together
to form a stable solid.
● Further precipitation then is governed by the competition between
additional nucleation and growth of existing nuclei (particle growth)

11. c. Colloidal Precipitates - Individual colloidal particles are so small that they are not retained by
ordinary filters. Moreover, Brownian motion prevents their settling out of solution under the influence of
gravity. Fortunately, however, we can coagulate, or agglomerate, the individual particles of most colloids
to give a filterable, amorphous mass that will settle out of solution.
i. Coagulation of Colloids - Coagulation can be hastened by heating, by stirring, and by
adding an electrolyte to the medium. Colloidal suspensions are stable because all of the
particles of the colloid are either positively or negatively charged and thus repel one
another. The charge results from cations or anions that are bound to the surface of the
particles.
ii. The process by which ions are retained on the surface of a solid is known as adsorption.
Adsorption is a process in which a substance (gas, liquid, or solid) is held on the surface
of a solid.
iii. In contrast, absorption is retention of a substance within the pores of a solid
iv. A drastic but effective way to minimize the effects of adsorption is reprecipitation. In this
process, the filtered solid is redissolved and reprecipitated. The first precipitate usually
carries down only a fraction of the contaminant present in the original solvent. Thus, the
solution containing the redissolved precipitate has a significantly lower contaminant
concentration than the original, and even less adsorption occurs during the second
precipitation.

12. d. Peptization of Colloids - Peptization is the process by which a coagulated
colloid reverts to its original dispersed state. When a coagulated colloid is
washed, some of the electrolyte responsible for its coagulation is leached from
the internal liquid in contact with the solid particles. Removal of this electrolyte
has the effect of increasing the volume of the counter-ion layer. The repulsive
forces responsible for the original colloidal state are then reestablished, and
particles detach themselves from the coagulated mass. The washings become
cloudy as the freshly dispersed particles pass through the filter.

13. e. Coprecipitation or post-precipitation - When otherwise soluble compounds are removed
from solution during precipitate formation, we refer to the process as coprecipitation.
Contamination of a precipitate by a second substance whose solubility product has been exceeded
is not coprecipitation.
There are four types of coprecipitation:
● surface adsorption - is a common source of coprecipitation and is likely to cause
significant contamination of precipitates with large specific surface areas, that is,
coagulated colloids
● mixed-crystal formation - is a type of coprecipitation in which a contaminant ion
replaces an ion in the lattice of a crystal.
● occlusion - type of coprecipitation in which a compound is trapped within a pocket
formed during rapid crystal growth.
● mechanical entrapment - it occurs when crystals lie close together during growth
● isomorphic inclusion - substitution of the precipitate lattice with impurity ions of
similar crystallinity
● non-isomorphic inclusion - solid solution of the impurity within the precipitate

14. a. Precipitation from Homogeneous Solution - Precipitation from homogeneous solution
is a technique in which a precipitating agent is generated in a solution of the analyte by a
slow chemical reaction
● Homogeneous precipitation is a process in which a precipitate is formed by slow
generation of a precipitating reagent homogeneously throughout a solution

15. 2. Volatilization gravimetry, the analyte is separated from other constituents of
a sample by converting it to a gas of known chemical composition. The two most
common gravimetric methods based on volatilization are those for determining
water and carbon dioxide. Water is quantitatively distilled from many materials by
heating.
3. Electrogravimetry, the analyte is separated by deposition on an electrode by
an electrical current. The mass of this product then provides a measure of the
analyte concentration.
4. Thermogravimetric, method of thermal analysis in which changes in physical
and chemical properties are measured as a function of increasing temperature or
as a function of time.

16. END