UNIT 2D
, Aim- to review personal development of scientific skills for laboratory work
Introduction- I am going to produce a report summarising and evaluating my performance and skill
development across all the practical work in this unit including- titration, calorimetry, colorimetry,
and chromatography.
Skills previously acquired- During my GCSE there were only few kills that I had acquired such as-
being able to draw graphs and interpret it, this skill helped me a lot with my titration, colorimetry,
and calorimetry assignments, I was also thought how to find RF values of a chromatogram and doing
paper chromatography, this helped me in my chromatogram assignment, I was also though how to
accurately measure chemicals which was found useful for my assignments, measuring distance using
a ruler, using correct decimal pints, rounding numbers, measuring temperature using a thermometer
and how to use a dropping pipette.
Titration and colorimetry- There were many things I didn’t know about while doing titration and
colorimetry, but I started learning new skills every time skills such as- learning to set up the stand, I
never did this before, but I learned how to do it, calibration- I have never calibrated before and this
was totally new to me I learned about calibration of weighing scale, although I have used a weighing
scale I have never calibrated it before, this was something I learned how to do during my practical, I
learned how to calibrate the weighing scale properly, and I am pretty confident in calibrating
weighing scales now, I also learned how to calibrate a pH probe, I had never seen a pH probe before,
during my titration practical I learned how to calibrate pH probe and use it to get readings, I also
learned how to calibrate volumetric glassware such as a Pipette, Burette, Conical flask, Volumetric
flask, I know how to calibrate these glassware and can now calibrate this equipment’s properly, I
learned that calibration is a very important part of the practical, without calibration, any results I get
is inaccurate and not precise, because the uncalibrated equipment is inaccurate and not precise
itself, I learned how to adjust balance in order to weigh something as accurately as possible, I also
learned how to adjust Ph probe as accurately as possible, I am confident in myself that I can calibrate
equipment’s properly in the future, I was also told to measure specific volumes of chemicals such as
HCl, although I was thought how to measure specific amount of chemicals during my GCSE, but since
I didn’t had practice on it for a long time, I was not confident to do it, but during my titration
practical’s I successfully managed to measure specific amount of chemicals as I was though how to
do it by my teacher. During titration I was told to make a standard solution, I also learned how to use
a burette and pipette, although I was shown how to use these equipment’s during my GCSE , I never
got a chance to really use them, but during my practical I was able to use them accurately and
precisely, I was also told to make a standard solution, I never made a standard solution before, and
therefore this was new to me too, but with my teachers guidance I managed to do it, and I feel
confident with it now, I also learned how to read the meniscus properly to get accurate results, after
my titration assignment I was told to record the results I obtained and draw a graph on it, I
successfully managed to draw the graph accurately, but I was told to find its “titre value” which was
something new to me, after my teachers guidance I was able to find the titre value, and now I find
drawing graphs and finding its Titre value very easy to do and find, right after my titration practical, I
had to do my colorimetry practical, and we were meant to use a colorimeter, I had never used a
colorimeter before and I though the whole process would be complicated, but it wasn’t, I was able
to use a colorimeter, I also learned about using a cuvette, and honestly I found it very easy to use, I
also learned how to do serial dilution, I never did this before, but after my teacher explain it how to
do, I found it easy to do, I was then told to use the results I obtained to draw a graph, which was
pretty easy, because I learned how to properly draw graphs and label its units during my titration,
but we also had to find the absorbance and transmission, this was the bit that confused me but with
the help of my teacher I was finally able to do that too.
Calorimetry- During my calorimetry practical there were things I didn’t know about, such as
calibrating thermometers- such as a digital thermometer and a liquid based thermometer this was
