Alka Seltzer Dissolving Lab

In this experiment, hydrochloric acids at different temperatures will be used to observe the effect of temperature in dissolving Alka Seltzer tablets. Four different temperatures as 25 degrees Celsius, 45 degrees Celsius, 65 degrees Celsius, and 85 degrees Celsius will be arranged before the experiment by using a heating pad. 25 degrees Celsius indicates the average room temperature and equal increases will be chosen to observe different responses of Alka seltzer to different temperatures.

Ever wonder about the chemical makeup of tablets that people take for pain relief? Before a tablet can be successfully made, the limiting and excess reactants must be considered. The limiting reactant will affect the amount of the product that can be made. Another reason why the starting reactants must be determined carefully is to make reduce the amount of the reactant in excess so that reactants are not wasted. This experiment uses an Alka-Seltzer tablet. Alka-Seltzer dissolves in water and is an antacid and a pain reliever1. The Alka-Seltzer tablet has many uses such as relief of headaches, ingestion, heart burns, or even upset stomachs2. The active ingredients in an Alka-Seltzer tablet is aspirin, also known as acetyl-salicylic acid (C8H12O4), citric acid (C6H8O7), and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3)2. The aspirin in the Alka-Seltzer tablet helps with pain relief. Because of the acid-base chemistry (Brønsted-Lowry), citric acid and sodium bicarbonate produce O2, which makes the tablet fizz when it is dropped in liquid. The Brønsted-Lowry theory shows how the Brønsted-Lowry acid donates a hydrogen ion while the Brønsted-Lowry base accepts the hydrogen ions3. The remaining NaHCO3 that is in excess post reaction with the citric acid is what is used to neutralize stomach acid which helps relief heart burn2. The problem in

On average the Alka Seltzer tablet dissolved faster in hot water in comparison to ice cold water and room temperature water. The beaker with ice cold water caused the Alka Seltzer tablet to dissolve the slowest. The three beakers containing different temperatures of water, all produced carbon dioxide bubbles; however, the beaker containing hot water produced the bubbles more rapidly.

The manufacturer results shows that Alka-Seltzer has 1.9 grams per tablet. In the experiment the results are too small compared to the number that is given by the label. In the first run only .0588 grams reacted to the acid. That suggest that the tablet only contains 0.588 grams of sodium bicarbonate which is very different from the manufacturers. The second run gave an even smaller number of gram. In terms of moles only .0007 reacted in the first and third run and only .0006 in the second run. There are many factor that could had alter the amount of moles that reacted to the acid which affected the result in showing that there is a smaller composition of sodium bicarbonate in the tablet than that of the manufacturer’s.

The buffer is a solution that minimises the changes in pH when small amounts of acid or base is added.There are two types of buffer solutions.They can either be acidic or alkaline.An acidic buffer is made by mixing equal amounts of a weak acid and its conjugate base.Similarly, an alkaline buffer has equal amounts of weak base and its conjugate acid.

Since Alka Seltzer is swallowed and reacts with stomach acid, the vinegar is in this experiment is substituting as the stomach acid. The principle of limiting reagents relates to this lab because

Alka Seltzer is a medical drug used for pain relief and used for relieving indigestion. For example, if you have a stomachache or some indigestion problems, Alka Seltzer may help neutralize the stomach acidity. Not only that, Alka Seltzer is also used for cleaning household items, such as vases or jewelry. Alka Seltzer contains citric acid and sodium bicarbonate, which makes it dissolve and release carbon dioxide gas when dropped in water. In this experiment, my lab partner, Rebecca, and I are trying to find a way to make Alka Seltzer dissolve faster in water. Rebecca and I both decide that if we increase the temperature of the water or make the water hotter, then the Alka Seltzer will dissolve faster because I know when salt and sugar dissolve in hot water, they dissolve faster. I predict that this same result would apply to this experiment.

Introduction: Alka-seltzer contains three active ingredients, aspirin, sodium hydrogen carbonate and citric acid. It is used for headaches, migraines, and cold and flu symptoms. Alka-Seltzer is usually taken when dissolved in a glass of water. When placed in water a series of chemical reactions result into Sodium citrate and Sodium acetylsalicylate. The sodium citrate would act as the antacid for stomach pains, and the sodium acetylsalicylate would act as the pain reliever.

How does the dissolve rate of the Alka-Seltzer tablets change as the temperature of the water changes? The dissolve rate is being affected by the temperature of the water. Temperature is a measure of kinetic energy in molecules (NYU). The higher the temperature, the higher the kinetic energy. Energy is required to create a reaction. Molecules with more energy come into contact with each other more often. The molecules of the reactants have to come into contact with each other, so more energy in molecules result in faster dissolving time.

I had stated in my hypotheses that: 1) If the rate at which the Alka seltzer tablet dissolves is related to the temperature, then the temperature will affect the rate at which the tablet dissolves. 2) If the rate at which the Alka Seltzer tablet dissolves is related to the surface area, then the surface area will affect the rate at which the Alka Seltzer tablet dissolves. 3) If the rate at which Alka Seltzer tablet dissolves is related to the catalyst, then the catalyst will affect the rate at which the tablet dissolves. My hypotheses were proven correct by the observations

There were several steps completed to prepare for the experiment. Three dialysis tubes were filled with approximately the same volume of distilled water and then were tied shut. The initial mass (in grams) of the tubes was taken using a triple beam scale. I then filled three 500 mL beakers with 400 mL of water each and dissolved different masses of solute (table sugar) in each beaker in order to make 5%, 10%, and 20% solutions. The beakers were labeled accordingly, and then 20 g, 40 g, and 80 g (respectively) of table sugar was weighed out using a digital scale and placed into the corresponding beakers. The sugar was stirred in using a stirring rod until all of the solute was completely dissolved.

Aquatic organisms use oxygen just like terrestrial organisms. The oxygen percentage of the atmosphere is approximately 20%. The oxygen percentage of water is much lower, at 1%. Many factors affect how oxygen and other gases dissolve in water. The purpose of the experiment was to discover if temperature is a factor for gases dissolving in water. In a beaker, 225mL of water was filled at varying temperatures between 0 degrees Celsius and 65 degrees Celsius. Three 12cc capacity syringes were filled with 7cc of Diet Mountain Dew, the syringes were then pointed upward, pressed of excess carbon dioxide leaving 5cc of seltzer, capped, and plunged into the water. A stopwatch was then used to time for three minutes, after which the syringes were removed

For our hypothesis we thought that the seltzer would dissolve the alka seltzer the fastest, because the seltzer was already carbonated. After doing the experiment we found out that the seltzer was the 2nd fastest at dissolving the tablet, and the water dissolved the alka seltzer 6 seconds faster than the seltzer. This being said our hypothesis turned out to be wrong because the water (fastest to dissolve the alka seltzer) has fewer chemicals, so it dissolved the tablet faster. We thought the less chemicals the slower the alka seltzer would dissolve. Although after conducting the experiment we found through data that the more chemicals in the liquid, the slower the tablet would dissolve in them.

The test that will be conducted uses 500ml of water and different levels of salt and sugar. Salt and sugar, the solutes, being the independent variables, will allow the experiment to test the melting rate of ice at different concentration levels. By adding salt and sugar in to separate ice trays after diluting it and freezing it, the freezing point should be lowered, meaning that the rate at which the ice will melt will decrease. This would also be the case if sugar was used along with

Today, I finished my proposal for my EEI and started researching for calculations to predict the solubility of my solutes. My decided solutes are sugar, salt and copper sulphate pentahydrate. I decided I would be using 100mL of water as my solvent due to the abundance of solutes available and that fact that 100mL is a nice, easy number to work with. I also spoke to Mrs Rach and she informed me she has a surplus of copper sulphate so I don’t have to be careful with how much I use. She also gave me some measurements on how much copper sulphate should dissolve into 100mL of water at varying degrees. It’s a good start and I’m going to see if I can validate these measurements once I work out the prediction equations. I’m hoping to have my risk assessment handed in by the end of Friday’s lesson, but first I have to decide on how much of each solute I need. I will do further research during the week on solubility and the appropriate equations.