Practical investigations

Read our general notes on Risk Assessment

I am planning an investigation to compare the iron content of various breakfast cereals and am having some difficulty finding out the best way to prepare the cereal in order to be able to titrate it using potassium manganate(VII) solution. What would you recommend?

Igloo suggests
 
Try gently boiling the cereal with a dilute solution of phosphoric acid for about 10 minutes, before filtering off the insoluble cereal matter. The acidic conditions will minimise the likelihood of the Fe²⁺ ions becoming oxidised to Fe³⁺ ions prior to your titration with manganate(VII). Try to find out why this is the case!
 
Always carry out a risk assessment and check with your teacher before starting any practical work.

Risk assessment
Before attempting any practical work based on the advice and suggestions on this website, you must do the following. Identify any hazards, assess the risks from these hazards, and then decide appropriate control measures to reduce the risks. You must have these approved by those in authority in your school or college laboratory. Do not rely on what is said on this website. For further guidance see our tutorial on Risk Assessment.

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updated: 20 January 2006