Bryce Kopchak, Sean McCarthy, Sam Mager, Patrick Sharpe

Research
pH stands for power of hydrogen or potential hydrogen. It is used to measure the hydrogen ion
concentration in a solution, which makes it either acidic or basic. The pH scale ranges from 0-14.
The closer to 0 the more acidic a substance is considered. The closer to 14 the more basic a
substance is. The average pH of the human stomach is 1.5-3.5. This means that stomach acid has
a high acidity level. Antacids raise the pH level of the stomach acid balancing the pH out
neutralizing its acidic value. An acid is a substance that neutralizes alkalis, and dissolves some
metals (pH of 0-7). A base is a substance that tastes bitter, and is slippery in water (pH of 7-14).
The stomach is very acidic so an antacid work by lowering the pH of the stomach. Antacids are
substances used to neutralize stomach acidity, which will relieve heartburn and other stomach
related illnesses. Antacids work by neutralizing or lowering the amount of acid in the stomach
and as an added benefit, antacids also thicken mucus lining in the stomach.

Sources
“Medications.” GiCare.com, www.gicare.com/medication.

Fort, Bamber. “Stomach Acid and Antacids.” About Stomachs, 2012,

www.iffgd/stomach/aboutstomach.org+.

Galland, Dale. “Antacid Types.” WebMD, www.webmd.com/antacidtypes.com.

Question
Which brand of antacid most effectively neutralizes stomach acid?

Hypothesis
We believe that the Tums antacid will neutralize stomach acid the best because it is a name
brand and claims to be the best.

Materials

* Stomach Acid (HCL)

* Antacids

* Beakers

* Electronic Ph Tester

* Goggles
* Water

* Stirring rod

Procedure

1. Enter the lab and put on goggles.

2. Gather and prepare the materials necessary.

3. Clean out and fill one beaker with 30 mL of HCl (stomach acid).

4. Crush up the antacid tablets in a mortar and pestle.

5. Weigh each crushed antacid using a metric scale and weigh boat.

6. Make sure each crushed antacid tablet has 2.6 g of weight to be consistent.

7. Test the pH of the HCl before dropping the crushed antacid tablet in.

8. Add the crushed antacid to the HCl and gently stir the beaker while continuing to measure the
pH.

9. Wait until the antacid is fully dissolved and take a final pH test.

10. Dilute the solution and dispose of it down the drain once finished.

11. Repeat steps 3-10 with each of the 3 antacid tablets.

12. Accurately collect the results and display them as graphs or easy to visualize information.

Data

Antacid Brand PH before antacid PH after antacid Total Difference

Tums 3.0pH 4.66pH 1.66pH

Generic Brand 3.0pH 5.10pH 2.10pH
Alka-Seltzer 3.0pH 5.20pH 2.20pH

Observations- As we dropped the antacids the HCl began to bubble and fizz, and after about 5
minutes the beaker stopped fizzing. Once the reaction stopped, we measured the pH.

Analysis
All the data collected throughout this experiment is relatively close together. All the antacid
brands neutralized the stomach acid to around a 5 on the pH scale. The antacids averaged a pH of
4.9 after being neutralized. The data we collected did not support our hypothesis that Tums
would neutralize stomach acid the best. Instead, Tums performed the worst and Alka-Seltzer
performed the best in our experiment. The reason for these trends in data are the composition and
active ingredients found in the different antacid brands. Tums and the generic brand contain
calcium carbonate, while Alka-Seltzer contains sodium bicarbonate, which may be a better acid
neutralizer than calcium carbonate. One error that could have occurred during the experiment is
the miscalculation of the strength of the Hydrochloric acid. This could have thrown off the
results collected in our lab. To correct this error we could have taken more accurate
measurements and diluted our acid more carefully.

Conclusion

This experiment was performed as an attempt to find which antacid would work best at
neutralizing stomach acid (hydrochloric acid). The antacids used were Tums, Generic Brand
Antacids, and Alka- Seltzer. We hypothesized that Tums would be most effective at neutralizing
the stomach acid because it is a name brand product. However, our hypothesis proved to be
wrong, as Tums was the least effective of the three antacids. It was concluded that Alka- Seltzer
was the most effective at neutralizing the stomach acid, while Tums was the least effective.