Permanganometry is one of the techniques used in
chemical
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...
quantitative analysis. It is a
redox titration that involves the use of
permanganates to measure the amount of
analyte
An analyte, component (in clinical chemistry), or chemical species is a substance or chemical constituent that is of interest in an analytical procedure. The purest substances are referred to as analytes, such as 24 karat gold, NaCl, water, et ...
present in unknown chemical samples. It involves two steps, namely the
titration
Titration (also known as titrimetry and volumetric analysis) is a common laboratory method of quantitative chemical analysis to determine the concentration of an identified analyte (a substance to be analyzed). A reagent, termed the ''titrant ...
of the analyte with
potassium permanganate
Potassium permanganate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula KMnO4. It is a purplish-black crystalline salt, that dissolves in water as K+ and , an intensely pink to purple solution.
Potassium permanganate is widely used in the c ...
solution and then the standardization of potassium permanganate solution with standard
sodium oxalate solution. The titration involves volumetric manipulations to prepare the analyte solutions.
Permanganometry allows the detection and estimation of the quantitative presence of various chemical species, such as
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...
(II),
manganese
Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy u ...
(II),
oxalate,
nitrite
The nitrite ion has the chemical formula . Nitrite (mostly sodium nitrite) is widely used throughout chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The nitrite anion is a pervasive intermediate in the nitrogen cycle in nature. The name nitrite also re ...
, and