5.1.

10: Quantitative titration of an antacid

CHEM 0103 Chemistry of the life sciences: Lab #10
(follow-up of lab 9, chemical calculator)

Acid base chemistry in the stomach

Safety
Today, we will work with aqueous NaOH, which is a hazard if it gets into your eyes. We will drip a 0.3 M NaOH solution from a
burette into an acidic solution while closely observing, i.e. your eyes will be in close proximity to the NaOH. You will protect your
eyes from harm by wearing safety goggles as mandated by our lab safety rules. In case NaOH does come into contact with your
eyes, you will have to wash them in the eye wash for at least 15 min., and follow up with a visit to a doctor.

Introduction
An excess of stomach acid (primarily HCl) causes heartburn and acid indigestion. Commercial antacids consist of a number of
ingredients, such as binders and flavorings, but the active ingredient is simply a basic salt such as Mg(OH)2 (milk of magnesia),
NaHCO3 (sodium bicarbonate), CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) or Al(OH)3 (aluminum hydroxide), to neutralize the acid. In this
experiment we will analyze a typical antacid containing CaCO3, a base which will react with an acid HCl, to neutralize it. Both
HCl and CaCO3 dissociate when in water, and when combined, they react.
Dissociation:
+ −
HCl(g) ⟶ H (aq) + Cl (aq)

2+ 2−
CaCO ⟶ Ca (aq) + CO (aq)
3 3

Carbonate (CO ) accepts one proton to form bicarbonate (HCO ) and another proton to form carbonic acid (H
2−
3
−
3 2
CO
3
), which
then releases water to form carbondioxide (CO ): 2

2− + − +
CO3 (aq) + 2 H (aq) ⟶ HCO3 (aq) + H ⟶ H CO (aq) ⟶ CO (g) + H O
2 3 2 2

A direct titration with acid is very difficult in this case as the active ingredient is only sparingly soluble in water (how is the low
solubility good for the heartburn “patient”?). In a back titration, we add “too much” HCl at first (i.e. past the point of
neutralization). This will completely dissolve the tablets, and the solution will be acidic. When we heat the solution, the carbon
dioxide will escape as a gas (try adding lemon juice to your seltzer). Then, we will neutralize the excess acid with NaOH to
indirectly determine the amount of initially CaCO present. The net equations are:
3

+ 2−
2H + CO ⟶ H O + CO (1)
3 2 2

for neutralizing some of the HCl with CO (eq 1) 2−

3

+ −
H + OH ⟶ H O (2)
2

for neutralizing the remaining HCl with NaOH (eq 2). The point of the titration is to measuring how much additional base (i.e.
NaOH) we have to add to neutralize the excess acid (i.e. HCl). This will allow us to calculate how much carbonate the antacid
contains.

Task 1: Positive control

Place approximately 50 mL distilled water into a 250 mL Erlenmeyer flask. Add 2 drops of thymol blue and 2 mL of 3M HCl.
What are the color changes you observe? Fill your burette with 0.3 M NaOH (the reading should be anywhere between 0.0 mL and
10.0 mL) and record the initial volume reading. Place the Erlenmeyer underneath, and slowly add the NaOH to it while observing
the color of the solution. Whenever a color change occurs, note the volume reading (and calculate the volume of NaOH added at
this point) and estimate the pH using pH paper. Once the solution has a tint of blue, your titration is completed. How does the color
of thymol blue correlate with pH? Calculate what volume of NaOH would be just enough NaOH to neutralize all of the HCl
originally in the flask (this is called the equivalence point). What was the color and the pH of the solution at the equivalence point?

5.1.10.1 https://chem.libretexts.org/@go/page/242458
Task 2: Calculate the chemical amount of HCl that neutralizes one tablet
The tablets claim to contain 500 mg active ingredient, CaCO . What is the chemical amount of carbonate in one tablet? What is
3

the chemical amount of HCl needed to neutralize it (refer to Eq 1)? What volume would you need of a 3M HCl solution to
neutralize all of the CaCO in the tablet. Our goal is to add an excess of that amount to obtain the exact chemical amount of active
3

ingredient by then neutralizing the remaining HCl with an NaOH solution of known concentration (refer to Eq 2).

Task 3: Analysis of antacid tablets

1. Obtain an antacid tablet with 500 mg active ingredient. Note the brand name (we have 2 kinds).
2. Into a rinsed flask add the tablet and about 50mL of distilled water followed by 5.00 mL of 3M HCl. Compare with your
calculation from task 2 to make sure we are adding an excess of acid.
3. Heat the mixture gently on a hotplate while stirring with a magnetic stir rod until all the effervescence has ceased, and for
another 1-2 minutes. Some of the inactive tablet material may not dissolve, but this does not interfere with the titration. Let the
solution cool.
4. While you are working on step 3., fill up the burette with fresh 0.3 M NaOH so that at least 25 mL remain in it (and record the
initial reading).
5. Add 3 or 4 drops of thymol blue, observe the initial color, and titrate the cool solution with your standardized NaOH until the
solution is no longer acidic. Note the color changes and the volumes added. The endpoint is when the solution turns from pale
yellow to just slightly blue.

Task 4
Calculate the chemical amounts of HCl and NaOH you added to the tablet, and use these to calculate the chemical amount of
carbonate in the tablet using Eq 1 and 2. Here is one way of proceeding: At the end of the tritation, all HCl was neutralized, either
by carbonate from the antacid or by hydroxide from NaOH. First, calculate the chemical amount of HCl and NaOH. Then, just like
with the magic subtraction trick last week, you have to subtract strong base from strong acid to get your result (the amount of weak
acid), using the formula below. The reason you have to divide by two is that one mole of calcium carbonate will neutralize two
moles of hydrochloric acid.
nHCl − nNaOH
nCaCO =
3
2

Finally, you have to calculate the mass of calcium chloride from the chemical amount of calcium chloride

5.1.10: Quantitative titration of an antacid is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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