Sunday, June 19, 2011

Titration!

I've been working on a couple watercolor paintings of labware recently. I've always loved glassware and glass sculptures. Labware is no different. Though its purpose is almost always utilitarian, I can't help but find it beautiful in its own way.

This is a painting of a titration in an Erlenmeyer flask. Titrations are used to figure out the strength (concentration) of a solution. A common titration often used in general chemistry labs is to start with an unknown acidic solution with an indicator (in my painting it is phenylphthalein) added. Carefully measured amounts of a known concentration of basic solution are added until the original solution briefly changes color. From that point, calculations are made to determine the concentration of the original solution.

My painting captures the moment when the phenylphthalein has changed color due to the addition of drops of basic solution.





I'd love to hear your thoughts!

2 comments:

  1. The reflections of your painting are delicate and fascinating, Katy. You definitely should paint more glass objects.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Would love to see a image contrast with glowing luminol or a gin and tonic in blacklighting

    ReplyDelete