Potassium hydrogen phthalate is a solid, monoprotic acid frequently used in the laboratory to standardize strong base solutions. It has the unwieldy formula of KHC8H4O4. This is often written in shorthand notation as K How many grams of KHP are needed?

1 Answer
anor277
Jun 9, 2018

Well, let us look at the structure of #"KHP"#...

Explanation:

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#"KHP"# is the mono-potassium salt of #"pthalic acid...."#

And clearly this can react with ONE EQUIV of base....

#C_6H_4(CO_2H)(CO_2^(-)) +HO^(-) rarrC_6H_4(CO_2^(-))_2 + H_2O(l) #

And ALSO with ONE equiv of ACID....

#C_6H_4(CO_2H)(CO_2^(-)) +H_3O^(+) rarrC_6H_4(CO_2H)_2 + H_2O(l) #

And because the phthalate salt is crystalline, relatively high molecular mass, and not terribly hygroscopic, this is an excellent primary standard for acid-base titrations...

But you have delineated NEITHER the concentration of the acid or base you use, NOR the mass of the phthalate salt...so we cannot address your question..

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