Science Projects Using Antacids
- Demonstrate how antacids react when combined with an acid by making an antacid grenade. Pour 1/2 cup white vinegar into a small water bottle. While outdoors, break three antacid tablets in half and then add to the vinegar. Immediately cap the bottle. The antacid and vinegar will form a gas. When the bottle fills with gas and just when the sides start bulging a bit, throw it up as high as possible in an area where there is a hard surface for it to land. Upon impact, the gas will burst out causing the bottle to propel forward or blow apart. The insufficient space for gas in the bottle caused this reaction.
- These projects demonstrate how antacid tablets can be used as a cleaner. Drop two dissolving antacid tablets into a toilet. Allow the tablets to dissolve and cleanse for 20 minutes before using a toilet brush. Clean the bottom of a vase by adding an antacid tablet into the vase along with a little bit of water. Let stand for several minutes, then wipe and rinse the stain.
- There is a wide selection of over-the-counter antacids available, which may have a varying neutralization rate. Perform a study to determine which product neutralizes the most stomach acid. For this procedure, fill four glass vials with 100 ml of cold water. Crush and add one different antacid tablet to each vial and mix until fully dissolved. Soak the vials in hot water then use a pH test kit to measure the initial pH. Working with one vial at a time, add one drop of hydrochloric acid to the mixture and then measure the pH. Continue adding one drop at a time and measuring the pH until the pH level reaches 7.0. Record the number of drops needed to reach this level. As a result, the product that takes the highest number of hydrochloric acid drops is the strongest antacid. Follow the same procedure to the remaining three vials then summarize the result of each product.
- Show how an antacid works when introduced to an acid by performing a visual color-changing demonstration. With the use of a universal indicator, this experiment shows the neutralizing reaction of the antacid when introduced to various amounts of acid. To conduct this demonstration, put 100 ml of a liquid antacid (with magnesium hydroxide as the primary ingredient) in a 500 ml beaker and then add water until the beaker is half full. Add 10 ml of universal indicator (available from a chemical supplier) and stir with a magnetic stirrer. The mixture will be a light blue color. Add 10 to 20 ml of vinegar to the mixture and watch the solution turn red. Continue adding more vinegar to change the color again and again. The color changes show the transition of a mixture high in alkaline to a mixture high in acid.