Science Lab- Determining the Most Effective Antacid

Gurtaj Mann

SNC2D0

Introduction:

Heartburn is a form of indigestion by acid digestion it affects many people worldwide. A solution to defeat heartburn is to take an antacid. An antacid is medicine which neutralizes your stomach acidity. In this experiment, we will be using three liquid antacids which are Phillips Milk of Magnesia, Life Brand Milk of Magnesia and Diovol plus AF and determine which one is the most effective at neutralizing an acid.

Purpose/problem: The purpose of this experiment is to determine which antacid (Phillips milk of magnesia, Life brand milk of magnesia and diovol plus AF) is the most effective at neutralizing an acid.

Hypothesis: In my opinion, Phillips milk will be the most effective in neutralizing an acid. A factor that leads me to conclusion is the mg per mL. All of these antacids have magnesium hydroxide in them. Phillips milk has most mg/mL so that makes it more effective and powerful than the others.

Materials:

 Safety goggles

 2 100 mL beakers

 Stirring rod, eye droppers

 0.2 Hydrochloric acid

 Phenolphthalein

 Diovol plus AF

 Life brand milk

 Phillips milk

Procedure: 1. Transferred 5 drops from one of the 3 antacids and dropped them in the beaker with a eye dropper.

2. Before mixing, used universal pH paper to test initial pH value of the antacid and recorded results.

3. Dropped a drop of phenolphthalein in beaker and mixed with stirring rod.

4. Started adding HCL acid to mixture.

5. Stopped when the mixture was clear.

6. Dumped mixture into waste beaker and cleaned up the area.

7. Repeated steps from 1-6 for all 3 liquid antacids.

Observations (Results): Antacid Neutralization titration results

Antacid Brand # of drops of Initial pH paper # of drops of HCL Final pH paper antacid color and pH added to change color and pH reading indicator reading Life brand milk 5 Brownish, 104 Greenish yellow, Green=12pH = 7 pH

Phillips milk 5 Brownish, 112 Light Orange = Green= 9pH 6pH Diovol plus AF 5 Light Green = 25 Greenish, 8pH yellow= 6/7pH

Analysis: The milk was a white liquid when I recorded results for initial pH paper color for life brand and Phillips milk I got the color Brownish, Green.

Sources of errors: Sometimes my group and I put drops too fast and lost count. We could improve by being patient next time.

Discussion Questions:

1. Based on my results the most effective antacid was Phillips, milk of magnesia because the number of drops added was 112 drops. Which is the highest and having the most drops is a good thing because it proves that it is a very strong base, so when this base is used it would be the most effective to fight acid. The active ingredient in the acid is Magnesium Hydroxide. The chemical formula is Mg (OH) 2 +

2HCl = MgCl2 + 2H2O.

2. An error that occurred was during the experiment using Dioval. Dioval takes time to start working as the mixture was not changing color and we thought that we did something wrong. Thus, we re-did it a couple of times until we realized that we didn’t do anything wrong but it was the dioval itself. To improve this error we should be more patient and let the mixture settle before starting. An experimental error that occurred was that the antacids were not reacting properly with the phenolphthalein and the beaker had to be washed and started again.

3. In my opinion it was a realistic way to carry out the test. It is realistic because this experiment proves which base can take the most amount of acid and not neutralize and the base that has the most acid added to it is the most effective base.

4. It is more beneficial to take an antacid after your heartburn because if you take it after it will go in your body neutralizing acid but if there is no acid the base itself will cause damage and without acid there it would be useless.

5. Another question I would be interested in investigating is a different form of antacid like a solid instead of a liquid. Solids such as Tums which are pills and see if solids are more effective than liquids in neutralizing acids. A procedure I would do and follow is take two solid antacids and crush them thus when the acid is added it’s easier to stir. Then in the end I would check the pH value and see if it’s neutralized.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, my educated guess was right Philips Milk of Magnesia is the most effective antacid from all of the three antacids we tested. As I expected Philips had the most drops of Hydrochloric Acid added than the other antacid making it the most effective and powerful out of the other three. However, Life Brand was really close to Philips as it was only a few less drops than Philips. Something I learned through the experiment was that the more hydrochloric acid the product could take its better. Before, I thought that the product with the least drops added will be most effective but that would have not made sense. Therefore, Philips Milk of Magnesia is the most effective antacid.

References:

 The lab sheet