Science The Most Effective Antacid to Neutralize Vinegar I.

) Introduction:

April 11, 2013

Stomach acid plays a very important role in our digestive system. Stomach acid, which is actually called hydrochloric acid, is in our stomach because it destroys harmful bacteria that may have gotten onto the food you swallowed. Your stomach is not destroyed by your stomach acid because there is a mucus layer that lines your stomach. There is also an enzyme in the stomach called pepsin that breaks down tough proteins, and pepsin can only perform its function in the acidic environment of the stomach acid. A pH scale is used to measure the acidity of a solution. An acid is a pH lower than 7. Acidic solutions have sour tastes and reacts chemically with foods and most metals. If the pH is closer to 0, the stronger the acid is. A base is a pH greater than 7. Bases taste bitter, are slippery to the skin and react with certain foods but do not react with metals. If the pH is closer to 14, the stronger the base is. A pH equal to 7 is a solution that is neutral, which means the solution is neither acidic nor basic. Neutralization is adding bases and acids together to shift the pH towards a pH of 7, which is neutral. The purpose of this experiment is to see which antacid will neutralize vinegar and which wont. If I add the baking soda, then the vinegar will become more basic. If I add the Tums then the vinegar will become more basic. If I add the omeprazole to the vinegar it will become more basic. I predict that the Tums will be most effective in neutralizing the vinegar. The independent variable is the antacid. The dependent variable is the pH level. The control group is the plain stomach acid because you can compare the other pH levels to it and the control is the comparison group that differs by only one variable so you can be sure any effect is due to that one variable. We used vinegar in place of the stomach acid because the acidity is closer and its safer having vinegar instead of stomach acid, because stomach acid can burn your skin. We used Tums, Baking Soda, and Omeprazole because when your stomach acid is at a higher level than usual, these medicines usually help to bring it back to its regular level.

II.) Methods: Materials: 1. teaspoon of baking soda 2. 1 omeprazole tablet 3. 2 Tums 4. Vinegar 5. 4 reaction beakers 6. 1 large waste beaker 7. 8 pH strips 8. mortar and pestle 9. stirring rod Procedure: 1. Get out 2 Tums and crush them in a mortar and pestle. Rinse mortar and pestle. 2. Get out 1 omeprazole pill and crush them in a mortar and pestle. 3. Measure teaspoon of baking soda. 4. Set out the 4 beakers and pour 25 milliliters into each one. Put the pH strips into each one and record pH level. 5. Add Tums into one beaker of vinegar. Add baking soda into another beaker of vinegar and add omeprazole into the third beaker of vinegar. 6. Mix each substance and test the pH with the strips. 7. Calculate the change in pH. III.) Results: Cup # pH at Start Substance Added Observations pH at End Change in pH Class Averages for Change in pH

1 2

2 2

None

None

2 8

None 6

0 5

Baking Soda Bubbles, Runs over

3 4

2 2

Tums

Bubbles

5 2

3 None

3 0

Omeprazole Turns yellow

IV.) Discussion: The vinegar with nothing added to it ended with a pH of 2. The vinegar with the baking soda in it ended with a pH of 8, which was the most change. The vinegar with the Tums in it ended with a pH of 5 and the vinegar with the omeprazole in it ended with a pH of 2. The omeprazole had no effect on the vinegar because its for reducing the production of stomach acid in your stomach not neutralizing your stomach acid. The baking soda had a stronger effect on the vinegar possibly because it is more basic than Tums. When I added the baking soda to the vinegar, it bubbles over and caused a mini explosion. When I added the Tums to the vinegar, it bubbled a bit. When I added the omeprazole to the vinegar it turned a dark yellow. My hypothesis was that the baking soda, Tums and omeprazole would change the pH level of vinegar and that the Tums would change the pH the most. I am wrong in the sense that the omeprazole didnt change the pH of the vinegar and that the Tums was the most eff ective antacid. Some things that might have affected my results were that the measurements on the beakers werent exact and the graduated cylinder and beaker could be measured differently. Also, there could be some residue left from the mortar and pestle. To improve this experiment, we can probably have a beaker that measures 25 milliliters so we dont have to transfer the vinegar. Also, we can try to have a mortar and pestle that was never used before and just bought. Some follow-up experiments would be to test how many Tums or omeprazole pills it would take to make the stomach acid a pH of 7 or how it would be to take all antacids. V.) Acknowledgements: I got help from Mr. Chapnick with explaining what a control group is in detail.