How do I calculate the final acidity of homemade vinegar?
I am making vinegar by mixing vinegar (containing the mother) and wine, and then allowing fermentation to occur. I am wondering how to calculate the final % acidity.
Assume:
- I know the initial concentration (by volume) of acetic acid,
X, alcoholY - All alcohol will be converted to acetic acid
- No sugar is converted to acetic acid
How do I calculate the final acidity?
Best Answer
This is actually a great chemistry question! First off, you need the density and molecular weight of the acetic acid (1.039 g/mL, 60.05 g/mol) and alcohol (which is ethanol — 0.709 g/mL, 46.07 g/mol). Assuming 100% conversion of ethanol (y) to acetic acid (x), you will end up with the same number of moles of acetic acid as the amount of ethanol you started with.
So if you started with y mL ethanol, you would have 0.709/(46.07 * y) moles ethanol.
Since we are assuming 100% conversion to acetic acid, we end with the same number of moles acetic acid, which we can then convert back to mL. mL acetic acid = 60.05/(moles acetic acid/ethanol * 1.049).
If we condense all that into one calculation, you end up with: mL acetic acid = 1.753 * mL ethanol.
If you add the volume of acetic acid you made in the fermentation process and the amount you started with, you have the total volume of acetic acid in your vinegar. Simply divide this by the total volume of vinegar to get the % acetic acid!
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Quick Answer about "How do I calculate the final acidity of homemade vinegar?"
To measure the pH of vinegar, simply use a pH strip. The resulting color will tell you how strong the vinegar is. Distilled white vinegar usually measures around pH 2.4, with a strength of 5%. The lower the pH, the more acid the vinegar is.How do you test the acidity of homemade vinegar?
Vinegar's pH can easily be tested by using pH strips. pH strips are inexpensive to use and widely available for purchase. They're designed to change color in response to a liquid's pH level and come with a color chart you can use to compare the tested strip against.How do you calculate the amount of acetic acid in vinegar?
You can use a proportion to determine the number of moles of acetic acid (Mx) in a standard volume (Vx = 1 L) of vinegar: Ms/Vs = Mx/Vx. Continuing with the previous example, the number of moles of acetic acid would be 0.00125. Dividing by 0.001 L gives 1.25 moles of acetic acid per liter, or a concentration of 1.25 M.How do I make homemade vinegar stronger?
For stronger flavor, try two parts wine to one part water. (You don't need to dilute cider or malt liquor; they're typically only 5 to 6 percent alcohol.) Next, pour the liquid into clean jars or a vinegar-making crock with a spigot on the bottom.What is the acidity of 5% vinegar?
White distilled vinegar of 5% can range from a pH of 2.5 to 2.7 on average. Pineapple vinegar ranges from 2.8 to 2.9. Red and white wine vinegar can be low, 2.6 to 2.8 but this is helped by the other acids like tartaric acid from grapes. The highest is apple cider vinegar which is typically 3.3 to 3.5 at 5%.Determination of Acetic Acid in Vinegar- General lab 106 and 109
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Answer 2
Go to a home winemaking supply shop or www.countrywines.com.
Buy an Acid Test Kit.
Dilute homemade vinegar: 1 ounce vinegar with 9 ounces water (distilled, preferably).
Follow directions in the acid test kit multiplying neutralizer used by 0.075 as indicated in the test kit instructions.
Multiply this result by 8 to account for the dilution to get your end result: Total Acid expresed as percentage tartaric acid.
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