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Topic: Need Help With Class A Flask and Balance Reading  (Read 3312 times)

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Offline jtf

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Need Help With Class A Flask and Balance Reading
« on: July 08, 2018, 12:36:26 PM »
I purchased a 25ml Class A Volumetric Flask from Amazon.
Using a precision balance (Mettler Toledo) where the balance is super accurate in the 25g range; and was professionally calibrated two weeks prior,  I wanted to test the accuracy of the score on the flask.
The room was at 75F
I used distilled water.
When I added 25g of distilled water to the flask, the bottom of the meniscus is between 1.5mm-2mm above the score line on the volumetric flask. The flask has a posted rating of +/- .03, so I would assume that at 25g that +/- is equal to  .03ml so the weight of distilled water the score should be 24.97 to 25.03, but it's much higher.

Can someone help me to understand why a Class A glassware would be off by so much? I also tested a 15ml Class A flask and the results were similar. I would be grateful for any assistance. As mentioned, the balance was professionally calibrated by MT just two weeks prior and has not experienced any real weighing activities since then.

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Thank you.


Offline hypervalent_iodine

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Re: Need Help With Class A Flask and Balance Reading
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2018, 07:36:17 PM »
Would it not be better to fill to the line of the flask and weigh it? That way you have a more precise idea of how off it actually is. Also worth noting that the density of water is not exactly 1.00 g/mL, so you should take that into account when you do your calculations.

Offline jtf

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Re: Need Help With Class A Flask and Balance Reading
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2018, 07:56:49 PM »
Thanks for the idea. I think filling to the line and weighing it is a great idea, but we need to know what is the displacement to the line. 
If the scale is exceptionally accurate, and if the volumetric flask is Class A and should have a fine tolerance, then which is most likely the source of the error? What is the best way to figure this out? Buy a calibration weight and use that as the 25g standard to see if the score line is accurate?

Thank you much.

Offline Borek

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Re: Need Help With Class A Flask and Balance Reading
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2018, 03:44:13 AM »
If you need high accuracy you should calibrate the glassware:

http://www.titrations.info/volumetric-glass-calibration

What is water density at 75 F? Have you accounted for that?
ChemBuddy chemical calculators - stoichiometry, pH, concentration, buffer preparation, titrations.info

Offline jtf

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Re: Need Help With Class A Flask and Balance Reading
« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2018, 10:39:57 AM »
Thank you. I will re-measure using the correct water density calculations at the given room and water temp.

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