III.

Analysis of Commercial Antacids

Objective
The goal of this experiment is:
 to measure the quantity of a simulated stomach acid (0.15 M hydrochloric acid) required
to neutralize a tablet of commercial antacid and to compare the effectiveness of several
brands of antacids in neutralizing acids.
 to test the concept of the relative effectiveness of different commercial antacids to
neutralize stomach acid determined by chemical analysis.

Introduction
The parietal cells in the stomach secrete hydrochloric acid at a concentration of about
0.155 M HCl, quite concentrated! The flow of HCl increases when food enters the stomach.
When you eat or drink too much, your digestive system may generate too much acid. You may
develop a condition called "heartburn" or indigestion. Antacids are swallowed to neutralize this
excess acid and "relieve" but not eliminate the condition. The reaction that takes place is an
acid/base reaction. A little bit of NaOH might be equally effective, but it's quite rough on the rest
of the digestive system, so antacids need to be formulated to reduce acidity while avoiding
physiological side-effects. Many antacids use CaCO3 for this purpose.
In addition to the active ingredient (base), tablets may also contain flavors, sweeteners,
binders, fillers, antifoam agents, pain relievers (aspirin), etc. In this experiment, the tablets will
be analyzed only for their ability to neutralize acids. The base in antacids varies with the brand.
The tablet lists the active agents in several brands.

Brand Active Agent Base

Pepto-Bismol BiO(HOC6H4COO)
Milk of Magnesia Mg(OH)2
Rolaids NaAl(OH)2CO3 (newer tablets: CaCO3)
Tums CaCO3
Alka-Seltzer II NaHCO3 and KHCO3
Maalox Mg(OH)2 and Al(OH)3
Gaviscon Al(OH)3

Acids are neutralized by these bases as illustrated below.

BiO(HOC6H4COO) + 3 H+(aq) -> Bi3+(aq) + H2O(l) + HOC6H4COOH(s)
Mg(OH)2(s) + 2 H+(aq) -> Mg2+ (aq) + 2 H2O(l)
Al(OH)3(s) + H+(aq) -> Al(OH)2+ (aq) + H2O(l)
Al(OH)2+ (aq) + H+(aq) -> Al(OH)2+ (aq) + H2O(l)
CaCO3(s) + H+(aq) -> Ca2+(aq) + HCO3- (aq)
HCO3- (aq) + H+(aq) -> CO2(g) + H2O(l)

In this simple experiment you will find the neutralizing capacity of various commercial
antacid tablets. To test their capacity to neutralize acid, we will first dissolve an appropriate and
measured amount of the sample in a simulated stomach environment. This is a solution
containing a known quantity of HCl that will react with all of the antacid and still leave some
extra HCl. Then we will determine how much of the original HCl remains by titrating it to
neutrality with a standardized solution of NaOH. Simple subtraction will reveal how much of the
acid was neutralized by the antacid tablet. This general method of analysis is called back-
titration.
If NA is the number of moles of HCl that we use for dissolving the antacid sample, and
NB is the number of moles of NaOH needed to back-titrate the excess HCl, then Nsample, the
number of moles neutralized by the sample, is given by:
Nsample = NA – NB
Remember that the number of moles in a volume of solution equals the concentration
multiplied by the volume. Thus,
Moles base in antacid = (volume HCL x molarity HCl) – (volume NaOH x molarity NaOH)
The removal of carbon dioxide by boiling is an important element of this experiment.
Dissolved carbon dioxide is converted into the weak acid, carbonic acid (H2CO3) which reacts
with NaOH. Although the deionized water is free of most impurities, it does contain dissolved
carbon dioxide that must be removed by boiling to give accurate titration results. All of the
antacids that you titrate contain carbonates. When you acidify the antacid sample with standard
HCl, the carbonates are converted into carbonic acid that must be boiled off in the form of CO2.
In this experiment you will titrate one commercial antacid twice. Each lab section will
compile their results and decide which antacid is the "best buy" in terms of neutralizing ability
per dollar. The general approach to this quantitative determination is volumetric.

PROCEDURE
1. Your will be randomly assigned on of the commercial brands of antacid tablets; which
you will analyze it in duplicate.
2. Obtain an antacid tablet and mass the whole tablet. Grind the tablet with mortar and
pestle and divide in half. Mass the two portions to three decimal places.
3. Use a transfer pipet to dispense 50.00 mL of standardized HCl into a clean 250 mL
Erlenmeyer flask and add about 20 mL of deionized water. This solution will be used to
dissolve the antacid tablet sample.
4. Transfer one of your crushed samples (without any spilling) into a flask containing the
HCl solution. Label each flask to keep track of which sample and which portion is being
titrated.
5. Warm gently to dissolve the sample and then boil for one or two minutes. Some
components of the samples may remain undissolved, but these will not cause problems.
6. Cool the outside of the flask with tap water and add a few drops of methyl orange
indicator solution. The flask should now be red in color. If the solution is yellow, add
approx. [Link] mL more acid, measuring the volume carefully.
7. The antacid has neutralized a portion of the acid. Our job is to figure out exactly how
much HCl was neutralized by titrating the acid left over with our standard base. "Back-
titrate" the excess acid in the flask with the standard NaOH. As you approach the
endpoint, add the base drop by drop. The endpoint of the titration occurs when the
solution turns from red to pale orange. Some samples may not give color changes as
sharp as for the HCl standardizations; for these use your best judgment to estimate the
endpoint. Endpoints will generally be sharper for quick titrations than for slow ones.
 8. Repeat the above procedure until you have obtained duplicate determinations. Enter your
data and make a final comment on the overall cost to neutralize one mole of HCl for
various brands.
Retail Cost Maximum

Designation Antacid Brand Price (cents per tablet)

A Tums Ultra 6.65
B Rolaids 2.79
C Tums E-X 3.84
D Tums 2.46
E Tums Plus 5.32

Data (for each trial):

* brand of antacid
* mass of whole antacid tablet
* mass of paper
* mass of antacid and paper
* mass of antacid sample
* volume of HCl added
* concentration of standard HCl
* initial buret reading of NaOH
* final buret reading of NaOH
* volume of NaOH required
* concentration of standard NaOH solution

Calculations (for each trial):

* mol of HCl added = M x Vol(L)
* mol of NaOH added = M x Vol(L)
* mol of base in tablet sample (see above in theory)
* mol of acid neutralized by the antacid = mol of base in the tablet
* mol of acid neutralized per gram antacid = mol of HCl neutralized / weight of antacid sample
* repeat above calculations for second trial
* avg. mol acid neutralized/g antacid

Questions:
1. Rolaids once ran a national advertising campaign in which it was claimed that Rolaids
consumes "forty-seven times its own weight of excess stomach acid". Can this be true?

*Assume that stomach acid is 0.100 M HCl and that its density is 1.00 g/mL.

2. Tums once ran a national advertising campaign in which it touted that its product "neutralizes
one-third more acid than Rolaids". Are they lying?