Experiment 17: Antacid Analysis Garam Noh Experiment 17s goal was to find the average moles of base

per gram of commercial antacid, and to compare this number for different brands of antacids. An excess of standardized HCl was added to a crushed antacid sample. The unreacted HCl was then titrated with a standardized NaOH solution. The calculation molesHCl molesNaOH gives molesbase in antacid, which can be divided by the original mass of the antacid sample in order to give mol of base/mass of antacid. The antacid with the higher mol of base/mass of antacid can be considered the more effective antacid than the antacid with the lower mole of base/mass of antacid. Calculation Tums, Trial 1 Tums, Trial 2 Rolaid, Trial 1 Rolaid, Trial 2 moles of HCl added, total (mol) 0.0025 0.0025 0.0025 0.0025 moles of NaOH added (mol) 0.000959 0.000766 0.00052 0.000495 Moles of base in antacid sample (mol) 0.00154 0.00173 0.00198 0.002 mole base in antacid/mass of antacid sample (mol/g) 0.0091 0.0086 0.0099 0.01 average (mol base in antacid/mass of antacid sample) 0.0088 0.01 In our experiment, we compared Tums to Rolaids, and found that the average mol base in antacid/mass of antacid sample was 0.0088 mol/g for Tums, compared to 0.010 mol/g for Rolaids. Rolaids remove (0.010-0.0088)=0.001 more mol of stomach acid per gram of antacid than Tums do, making Rolaids the more effective antacid of the two. Now we can investigate Rolaids claim that its products are more effective than those of Tums. The Rolaids website makes an active comparison between its products and Tums, claiming that Rolaids (regular strength) removes 47% more acid than Tums. However, according to our experiment, Rolaids remove only (0.0012 mol/g)/(0.0088 mol/g) = 13.6% more acid per gram than Tums do. This is a much lower percentage than the number, 47%, that is displayed on the Rolaids website. The Rolaids logo, Rolaid spells fast relief, on the other hand, is a valid claim, as Rolaids have a higher concentration of base that will lead to a faster rate of reaction for the neutralization reaction, which means faster heartburn relief.

What is interesting to calculate is the effectiveness of Rolaids and Tums based off of the active ingredients listed online. Tums claims 0.500 g CaCO3 per tablet, which translates to 0.500 g CaCO3*1molCaCO3/100 g CaCO3*1mol CO32-/1 mol CaCO3 = 0.00500 mol CO32- per Tums tablet. Rolaids, however, claims it contains 0.550 g CaCO3 and 0.110 g Mg(OH)2 per tablet, which means it contains 0.550g CaCO3*1 mol CaCO3/100 g CaCO3*1mol CO32-/1 mol CaCO3=0.00550 mol CO32- and 0.110 g Mg(OH)2*1 mol Mg(OH)2/58.3 g Mg(OH)2*2 mol OH-/1 mol Mg(OH)2 = 0.00377 mol OH- per tablet. This means one tablet of Tums contains 0.0050 mol base, while Rolaids contains (0.00550 mol+0.00377 mol=0.00927 mol) base per tablet. So purely calculating off of the active ingredients values given on the Tums and Rolaids websites, one tablet of Rolaids neutralizes 85.5% more acid than a tablet of Tums does. This is an even higher percentage than the Rolaids website claims. However, we must realize that in this case, we compared moles of base per tablet of antacid, not per gram of antacid, as we did in Experiment 17. But I believe that a comparison of moles of base contained per tablet is more relevant to the real world, as individuals who take commercial antacid consume Tums and Rolaids by the tablet, not by the gram, and the mass of one Tums tablet differs from the mass of one Rolaids tablet. Rolaids neutralize more stomach acid than Tums, both per tablet and per gram. But because of an error in laboratory technique, our experiment estimated Rolaids to neutralize only 13.6% more acid than Tums, compared to the 47% claimed by the website. My lab group undershot on the titration of HCl with NaOH for both Tums trials, as our instructor confirmed after we had finished the titration. Our moles NaOH added was therefore too low, causing the moles
base in antacid sample

to be

too high for both Tums trials. This made the average mol base in antacid/mass of antacid sample for Tums higher than in a perfect experiment. This means that Rolaids claim that its products neutralize 47% more acid than its leading competitor, Tums, may in fact be true. A second possible experimental error is that we used a scale that showed up to two decimal places, which will have caused uncertainty because our antacid samples had such small masses.

Conclusion Rolaids can be considered the more effective antacid than Tums, because it has more moles of base/gram of antacid sample than Tums. The same individual would be recommended to take Rolaids for a more assured relief of heartburn.