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Difficulty
Prerequisites None
Wear safety goggles and gloves and have an adult help you when handling and working with the artificial stomach acid solution. Hydrochloric acid is
Safety
corrosive to hands and eyes.
Abstract
Have you ever experienced heartburn after eating a large, greasy meal? Or have you heard of someone complaining about heartburn pains? It's very common; over 60 million people
in the U.S. have heartburn at least once every month. Heartburn pain usually results from stomach acids escaping from the stomach and irritating the esophagus above it. Luckily, there
are medical drugs, called antacids, which can help relieve heartburn pain. But how do antacids work, and how effective are they? In this science project, you will create artificial
stomach acid and explore how antacids neutralize this super acidic soup!
Objective
Determine how antacids change the pH of stomach acid.
Credits
Teisha Rowland, PhD, Science Buddies
MLA Style
Science Buddies Staff. "Calcium Carbonate to the Rescue! How Antacids Relieve Heartburn." Science Buddies, 20 Nov. 2020, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-
projects/project-ideas/BioMed_p010/medical-biotechnology/calcium-carbonate-how-antacids-relieve-heartburn. Accessed 11 Mar. 2021.
APA Style
Science Buddies Staff. (2020, November 20). Calcium Carbonate to the Rescue! How Antacids Relieve Heartburn. Retrieved from https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-
projects/project-ideas/BioMed_p010/medical-biotechnology/calcium-carbonate-how-antacids-relieve-heartburn
Introduction
When you eat a piece of food, after you chew it in your mouth, it makes its way to your esophagus, a long tube that leads down to your stomach. See Figure 1 below for a diagram of
how the esophagus and stomach are connected in the human body. The fluids in your stomach are very acidic, having a pH of around 1 to 3 to help break down your food. pH is a
scale that measures how acidic or basic a solution is. A neutral pH is 7, such as distilled water. An acidic pH is below 7, such as lemon juice or battery acid. A basic pH is above 7,
such as baking soda or bleach. For a refresher, see the Science Buddies page on Acids, Bases, & the pH Scale (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/references/acids-bases-the-ph-scale).
Figure 1. When you eat a piece of food, it travels from your mouth, down through your esophagus, and to your stomach. As the food continues to be digested, it travels through the
small intestine. This diagram shows only part of the entire digestive system.
Sometimes, some of a person's stomach acid escapes from the stomach and flows up into part of the esophagus. This is called acid reflux. Eating certain foods or beverages (such
as fatty foods or coffee), being overweight, or eating large meals can trigger acid reflux. Because the esophagus is usually at a neutral pH, it is not used to dealing with such an acidic
solution. Consequently, during acid reflux the stomach acid irritates the esophagus, causing the common feeling of heartburn. Heartburn is most commonly a pain felt in the chest and
usually, but not always, results from acid reflux. A person who frequently experiences extreme heartburn may have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which can severely
damage the esophagus tissue over time.
Luckily, there are medicines, called antacids, which can help relieve heartburn pain. Antacids essentially work by increasing the pH of the very acidic stomach acid. They don't need to
raise the stomach acid pH all the way to a neutral pH of 7, but just raising the pH to 3 or 4 will make a person feel better. This is done through an acid/base chemical reaction, which is
shown in Equation 1 below.
Equation 1:
Acid + Base → Salt + Water
Equation 1 says that when an acid and a base react together, they produce a salt and water.
Stomach acid mostly contains hydrochloric acid (HCl), a very strong acid. The active ingredient in many antacids is calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), a base that is actually found in
several natural minerals, including limestone, marble, and chalk. This acid and base react as shown in Equation 2 below.
Equation 2:
2 HCl (acid) + CaCO₃ (base) → CaCl₂ (a salt) + CO₂ (carbon dioxide, a gas) + H₂O (water)
Equation 2 says that when HCl and CaCO₃ react together, they produce calcium chloride (CaCl₂), carbon dioxide, and water.
What is important about Equation 2 above is that before antacids are added to the stomach, it contains a lot of HCl, but after the antacids are added and react in the stomach, it
contains salt, carbon dioxide, and water. The base (the antacid) turns the acid primarily into salt and water.
Although Equation 2 shows that antacids can neutralize stomach acid, just how much antacid is needed to raise the pH of a full stomach, which can hold over two liters, to a pH of 3 or
4? How much antacid is needed to raise it higher than that? In this science project, you will create artificial stomach acid and investigate how antacids neutralize it. Although the
stomach is a complex organ, you can create artificial stomach acid that has very similar chemical properties to real stomach acid by using hydrochloric acid and sodium chloride (table
salt) to create a solution with a pH of 2.
Questions
What causes acid reflux? How is this related to heartburn?
How do acids and bases react in general?
How does calcium carbonate neutralize hydrochloric acid?
Although you cannot calculate it using only the information given here, how much calcium carbonate do you think you would need to change the pH of two liters of a hydrochloric
acid solution with a pH of 2 up to a pH of 3 or 4?
Bibliography
These resources are a good place to start gathering information about digestion, heartburn, and antacids:
These resources are a good place to start gathering information about pH during digestion, acids and bases, molarity, and homemade artificial stomach solutions:
Fisher Scientific. (2008, April 1). Material Safety Data Sheet: Hydrochloric Acid 32-38% Solution (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/error/external-page-missing?
url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.fishersci.com%2fecomm%2fservlet%2fmsdsproxy%3fproductName%3dSA541&ref=%2fscience-fair-projects%2fproject-ideas%2fBioMed_p010%2fmedical-biotechnology%2fcalcium-carbonate-how-antacids-relieve-heartburn).
National Center for Education Statistics. (n.d.). Create a Graph (https://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/CreateAGraph/default.aspx). Retrieved June 2, 2009.
The pH range of the sticks should include pH 1 to pH 7. They should be able to at least distinguish among pH 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.
Lab notebook
Graph paper
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Experimental Procedure
Creating Stomach Acid
In this first part of this procedure, you will be creating artificial stomach acid. You will mix together hydrochloric acid (HCL) and sodium chloride in a 2 liter (L) plastic bottle. You will be
creating a solution that is 0.01 M hydrochloric acid and 0.150 M sodium chloride, with an overall pH of 2. (0.01 M means it is a 0.01 molar solution, and this represents the amount of a
chemical substance that is in a certain amount of liquid.) For more on molar solutions and molarity, read the Khan Academy article on Molarity (https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry/states-of-
matter-and-intermolecular-forces/mixtures-and-solutions/a/molarity).
1. Be sure to wear your safety goggles and latex gloves. Also wear clothes that you would not mind getting damaged. Look at the Science Buddies Chemistry Safety Guide
(http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/references/chemistry-safety) for guidance on how to work with potentially hazardous chemicals. You can also read a webpage on Material Safety
Table 1. This is a sample table that shows how you can record your data for three different trials, and then calculate the average pH for all three trials.
1. Have an adult help you use a knife to cut a TUMS tablet into equal-sized quarters. Do this on a piece of paper so that you do not lose any pieces and so that you can easily pour
the TUMS into the bottle in the following step.
a. Crush each quarter tablet into a fine powder by first further breaking up the pieces with a knife and then, crushing these pieces using the back of a metal spoon.
b. Keep each powdered TUMS quarter separate from the other quarters.
2. Add ¼ of a powdered TUMS tablet to the 2 L bottle of artificial stomach acid you just made.
3. Screw the lid of the 2 L bottle on securely, and very carefully turn the bottle upside down repeatedly until the contents appear mostly dissolved.
a. You may see some little bubbles in the solution. Based on Equation 2 in the Introduction, what do you think these bubbles are?
4. Measure the pH with the pH measuring stick. Record the total amount of TUMS® tablets added so far and the corresponding pH in the table in your lab notebook.
5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 until the pH is approximately 4.
a. Prepare more powdered TUMS quarters as needed by repeating step 1.
b. Watch the artificial stomach acid solution as you add more TUMS tablets. How does the solution change as you add more TUMS tablets? Write any observations in your
lab notebook.
c. Make sure to record the number of TUMS quarters it took to raise the pH to 4.
6. Continue to repeat steps 2 to 4 until you have added a total of three more entire TUMS tablets.
a. For this step, you can add one half of a TUMS tablet at a time. Prepare the powdered TUMS halves you need by repeating step 1, but cut the tablets into halves instead
of quarters.
b. After adding a total of three more TUMS tablets, what was the maximum pH that the solution reached?
7. In order to ensure that your results are real and accurate, repeat all the steps of the section titled "Creating Stomach Acid" and steps 1 through 6 of this section at least two more
times for a total of at least three trials. Remember always to record your data in your lab notebook.
8. When you are all done, it is safe to dispose of the neutralized stomach acid by pouring it down the sink.
If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers:
Biochemist (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-engineering-careers/life-sciences/biochemist)
Career Profile
(http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- Growing, aging, digesting—all of these are examples of chemical processes performed by living organisms.
engineering-careers/life- Biochemists study how these types of chemical actions happen in cells and tissues, and monitor what effects new
sciences/biochemist) substances, like food additives and medicines, have on living organisms. Read more (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-
engineering-careers/life-sciences/biochemist)
Pharmacist (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-engineering-careers/health/pharmacist)
Career Profile
(http://www.sciencebuddies.org/scie Pharmacists are the medication experts. They advise doctors, nurses, and patients on the correct drug dosage for a
nce-engineering- patient's weight, age, health, and gender; on interactions between drugs; on side effects; on drug alternatives; on costs;
careers/health/pharmacist) and on ways to give drugs. They also dispense drugs at pharmacies, according to prescriptions, checking for dangerous
drug interactions, and educating patients on how to take drugs, what reactions to watch out for, and how long it should take
for drugs to work. Read more (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-engineering-careers/health/pharmacist)
Variations
Think about how your artificial stomach acid solution is different from a real stomach and a real digestive system overall. It may be difficult to modify this science project to mimic
more closely what happens in a real stomach, but if you could change it any way, what changes would you make? To learn more about the digestive system, check out this
website:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2008, April). Your Digestive System and How It Works. Retrieved September 27, 2011, from
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/yrdd/ (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/error/external-page-missing?url=http%3a%2f%2fdigestive.niddk.nih.gov%2fddiseases%2fpubs%2fyrdd%2f&ref=%2fscience-fair-
projects%2fproject-ideas%2fBioMed_p010%2fmedical-biotechnology%2fcalcium-carbonate-how-antacids-relieve-heartburn)
In this science project you used TUMS, but there are many other different brands of tablets sold to relieve heartburn. Additionally, while the antacid used in TUMS is calcium
carbonate, there are many other antacids available. Repeat this science project using a different brand or an antacid with a different active ingredient. To learn more about
antacids, check out this website (it has multiple pages):
MEDTV. (n.d.). Antacids. Retrieved September 23, 2011, from http://gerd.emedtv.com/antacids/antacids.html (http://gerd.emedtv.com/antacids/antacids.html)
Ask an Expert
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Related Links
Science Fair Project Guide (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_guide_index.shtml)
Other Ideas Like This (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/search?v=solt&pi=BioMed_p010)
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My Favorites (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/account/favorites)
Chemistry Safety Guide (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/references/chemistry-safety)
Acids, Bases, & the pH Scale (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/references/acids-bases-the-ph-scale)
Bile – not acid – is bad guy in triggering precancerous condition associated with reflux disease (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/news/article?id=8996),
EurekAlert!, April 24, 2012
Rhode Island Hospital uncovers pathway linking heartburn and esophageal cancer (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/news/article?id=47482), EurekAlert!, October 7,
2013
Studies Link Some Stomach Drugs to Possible Alzheimer's Disease and Kidney Problems (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/news/article?id=287785), Scientific
American, February 2, 2017
Note: A computerized matching algorithm suggests the above articles. It's not as smart as you are, and it may occasionally give humorous, ridiculous, or even annoying results! Learn
more about the News Feed (http://www.sciencebuddies.org/news/learn-more)
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