Titration

• A white tile is provided for better observation to spot the colour change during titration.
• The burette and pipette have to be rinsed with the solution before use to avoid any contamination and inaccuracy measurement of the solutions used.
• Value for rough titration is always greater than accurate titration.

Burette & Pipette

• Do not place the practical report too close to the titration setup to avoid the solutions spilled onto the paper.
• Example table to record titration readings:

Note: At least 2 readings with the margin ≤ 0.10 cm³ are taken as the experiment result.

Salt analysis - testing for the ions

• Adding 1cm³ reagent is considered "equal amount". Measurement more than 2cm³ is considered excess.
• Take notes of the cations Pb²⁺, Al³⁺ & Zn²⁺. These 3 amphoteric ions exhibits special observations in order to deduce the ions. The ions will form white ppt upon adding NaOH drop by drop, and will dissolve in excess NaOH to form a clear solution. When the solution is treated with HNO₃, the white ppt will form again. This test is only valid for the 3 ions as mentioned above. The reason behind this is because the hydroxide ions form are insoluble white ppt, and the hydroxide will further react with excess OH- to form a complex ions which are soluble. This can be referred to Le Chatelier's principle.
• Pb²⁺ can be distinguished from Al³⁺ by reacting with Cl^- to form PbCl₂, an insoluble solution.
• Some high-charged ions, eg: Al³⁺, Fe³⁺ & Cr³⁺ can exhibit acidic properties, especially when reacting with CO₃^2- to form CO₂ gas.
• Transition element ions, eg: Cu²⁺, Fe²⁺, Cr³⁺ & Mn²⁺ are coloured solutions. Therefore it's easy to deduce the ions based on their significant colours, for example, Cu²⁺ is a blue solution.

From left to right, aqueous solutions of: Co(NO₃)₂ (red); K₂Cr₂O₇ (orange); K₂CrO₄ (yellow); NiCl₂ (green); CuSO₄ (blue); KMnO₄ (purple).

• HCl is a useful reagent to test for certain ions. If there's no gas evolved when HCl is added, one can deduce that SO₃^2-, NO₂^- and CO₃^2- is absent. These 3 anions will react with HCl and gases will evolve. The gases evolved are SO₂, NO₂, & CO₂ respectively. Test for the gases will be listed below.

Test for gases:

Note: When heating a solution, it's best to prepare 2 damp litmus papers (red & blue) and place it on top of the boiling tube when heating to test the gas evolved.

• AgNO₃ is the common reagent to test for halides: Cl^-, Br^-, I^-. Observations are white ppt, pale cream ppt and yellow ppt respectively.
• Heating a solution with Al foil is to test NO₃^- & NO₂^-.
• Ba²⁺ is the reagent to test SO₄^2- & SO₃^2-.
• It is possible that the salt analysis part is replaced by organic compounds tests.
• I've made a slideshow presentation identifying cations. You can view the slide here.

Calculations

• During calculations, answers which haven't been finalised may be written in 4 or 5 sf (significant figures). Only the final answer for the question need to be rounded up to 2sf or 3sf.
• If unsure with the significant figures needed for the answer, put 3sf instead.
• Approximation sign (≈) cannot be used in answering the question unless stated in the question.
• Reading from burette is always written in 2 decimal places, eg: 25.75 cm³. Note that the 2nd decimal number must be either 0 or 5.
• Pipette reading is fixed at 25.0 cm³.
• Thermometer reading is usually written in 1 decimal place figure, eg: 35.4°C.
• Types of errors:
  • Systematic error: faulty instruments giving zero error (thermometer, stopwatch).
  • Random error: error due to the surroundings (wind, heat).
• Estimated error for burette reading = half of the smallest division = 0.05cm³.
• Oxidation states and ΔH (kJ mol^-1) must write + or - .

Trainees at the initial stage of NS (boys haven't shaved yet). Photo by Anan Amri.


The trainees have to be responsible for themselves too. They know themselves the best, what can be possible dangerous for them, and they should not fake any evidence if they're medically-unfit to join the programme. I heard a trainee faked their medical checkup in order to join the programme but eventually something happened, luckily it's not life-threatening but he was brought out from the camp soon after that.

To add up the misery, is the hygiene and cleanness of the camp itself. Most camps are located in rural areas, surrounded by vast jungle, or situated next to a river or lake. This may contribute to more possibilities of contracting unusual diseases that rarely found in urban areas.

To rub more salt on the wound, the medical supplies and services in the camp is not satisfactory. I've heard this year they added few medical assistants in every camp, but I dunno whether that really worked out or not. It'll be good to have those professionally-train personnels around, should the trainee needs any sort of treatment, whether it's a physical injury from the trainings, or fatigue.

Sometimes, there's overwhelming response from the trainees which could keep those personnels really busy to deal with so many patients. In this case, sending the sick to the clinic or hospital would be the best choice. But.... many camps chose to deal with it internally rather than sending the trainees out to clinics or hospitals.

Trainees on holiday break. Photo by Anan Amri.


There is something to do with the attitude of the offers in the camp too. Many times I've seen trainees complaining to their teachers/trainers in the camp they're feeling ill and so on, but eventually they're all turn down by the officers. I know some of them are feinting, well some of them are really ill. It's just that the officers thought that the trainees are acting and therefore they turn down the request for inspection or treatment.

Such attitude of the officers.... is questionable. Sometimes there should be no delay to send the trainees to the hospital, because you know, time decides whether the trainee will be able to make it or not. Any dragging and delay, is possible to make the matter worse. Upon checking the records, some of the victims' family claimed that the camp officers do not send the deceased to the hospital in time, which may be the reason for the tragedy turning from bad to worst. It's sad to say this but it's all human error.

Let us pray that there will be no more such depressing news anymore in this year. It's hard to totally eliminate all the errors, because even if humans tried the best to prevent such thing to happen, it's all up to the person up there to decide one's fate.

Hope this is what every trainees will experience....

On the negative side, I was thinking will it be waste of time to spend 3 months to train in the camp when I can learn and explore more new things before continue studies?
On the bright side, I take it this is a chance to get to know more people, as well as experience living in a military life (not close to it actually), this will be the only chance in my life I'll be doing this (unless I'm joining the army, which is very unlikely).

My attitude towards NS changed, soon after I came back from it.

First of all, many people lash out negative feedbacks on this program, saying it's a waste of time, energy & resources. Heh, only those who didn't join the program see it for themselves will comment in this manner. I'm standing firmly for my stance, National Service, PLKN, is not a waste of time, energy and resources.

If you look at the statistics from JLKN (Jabatan Latihan Khidmat Negara) since the 1st batch in 2004, more than 90% of the trainees agreed that the program is beneficial as they learn lots of new things there.

So, what I actually gain from NS? Heh, I think the most important lesson I learn is mutual-respect between one and others. Although we're living in a multi-racial country, there's still unavoidable racial slurs passing around, including in NS camp, I believe many trainees had the same experience while staying in NS camp.

Well, for the case in Sabah camp, at the beginning it's quite obvious that trainees from Semenanjung will gather together while the local Sabahans are with their own kin. After some time, you'll see all of them will be mixed up together. Same goes to the minorities too, the most important is that all of us could get along well together. Without this, I dare to say you wont be able to enjoy the best out of NS!

Talk about those trainees from different racial background, we also couldn't forget religions as well. In Sabah, the Christians are "categorised" into few types (should I use this word?). There's the usual Anglican, Roman Catholic, Protestant, as well as their native SBS, SSB etc Christianity "types". Until now I havent really figure out what's all about, but I only know that some of their worship time is different, say, we're quite clear that they go for Church on Sunday, but for some of the Christians in Sabah, they worship on Saturday or Friday. I regret I did not ask my friends more details about the religions back then. :S

With all the diversity among the trainees, it's kinda surprising to see how all of us can get along well together. Here, the role of the trainers/teachers is vital. Kudos to all the trainers/teachers in Kem Wawasan, whose able to address our problems well. We're lucky to have great trainers/teachers there to help us out, especially those who're far away from home (well, how can you go back to Semenanjung from Sabah other than AirAsia? Swim? lol). Again, the trainers & teachers are the only place where you can channel all your problems.

Bear in mind, no matter how you complain to your parents, they cant really do anything to help you other than consoling through the phone. Unless the matter is serious, the parents can try to approach the camp's administration, or the person-in-charge of JKLN, Mr Abdul Hadi Awang & Mr Lee Lam Thye.

Another thing bout the camp I went..... the infrastructure isn't perfect. There's no direct electric current supplied (we're running on generators), and there's no chlorined water supply. The camp is located besides a river (Sg Papar), so that's our water source. There's a pump and filter to clear the water before it is channeled to the water pipes. However, I said it's imperfect, and the water supply is one of everyone's headache.

Sometimes, the pump stalled, means we wont be having water supply to do daily chores, how scary... And sometimes, the filter spoilt, making the water murky and dirty. We've to bear the circumstances and we've to use the "teh tarik" water to do things, use it to wash our cloths, and to bath with it! OMG!!

Hahah, when I think of that now, I guess that's some sort of weird experience. I dont really think the other camps will have problem like this, or maybe I didnt heard of it? Heheh.

It's quite unfortunate for me as I've to leave the camp earlier in order to continue study. I think I only stayed in the camp for 7 weeks (close to 2 months), and then I was sent back to KL.

When I first get into the camp, I've plans to "escape" from it, but the tide changed direction when I'm close to end my NS life sooner than expected. I'm a little regret to get out from there so soon, because the best of NS is the days before the upacara penutupan (closing ceremony). :(

I'd like to share with you some pics I took when I'm there.

Our weekly time-table. This pic is taken on the day I'm leaving, 6th May. (click for full view)

Hari Terbuka, Open Day for the camps.

Boys' nightmare lol.

Rainbow over the camp admin office.

We've to keep our boots shining all the time by polishing non-stop!

M-16 Rifle practice.

Community Service at Beringgis beach.

"Datang dengan paksaan, Pulang dengan kenangan." Our camp's motto. :)

A video tour to Kem Wawasan.

Rehearsal for the Open Day, featuring Jay Chou's "Fearless".

Last word from me, joining PLKN is really an unforgettable experience. I think it's a good training ground to build up a person's independence, and somewhat prepare to face the world out there, the life after school.

Hope you enjoy this post. :)

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