Lab Safety

• The chemicals you'll use in a titration are common lab reagents, but that doesn't mean they're not dangerous if you mishandle them. Expect to wear goggles and gloves and practice good lab safety techniques. When you're using a burette, make sure you have it below eye level when you fill it, and make sure the stopcock is closed before you start adding fluid. Once you're done with your titration, test the pH of the fluid and dispose of it according to your lab guidelines for hazardous waste.
  
  

Patience

• Expect that your titration will take a while. If you're in a hurry and add too much titrant too quickly, you'll overshoot and have to repeat the entire titration; consequently, it's best to take your time. It may help if you perform a "quick and dirty" titration or trial run first to get a rough idea how much titrant is required, then perform a second more accurate trial using the information you gained from the first one. You'll typically need to perform multiple trials in any case to ensure accuracy.
  
  

Mixing

• Expect to keep the solution mixed continuously during your titration. Often you can do so by gently swirling the flask that contains the solution you want to titrate. If you are using an indicator, you'll need to watch its color closely; if you are using a pH meter, on the other hand, you'll need to periodically stop and take pH measurements, which will make your titration slower but give you much more data.
  
  

Data and Calculations

• Expect to graph your data following the titration and use it for calculations. You may need, for example, to find the original concentration of the chemical in the solution you titrated, or you may need to find the dissociation constant of an acid (your teacher will explain how you can do this). Since you'll need your data later, make sure you record it carefully. It's probably better to draw up a table so you can have your data organized before you even leave the lab.