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Lab Documentation
Student Handout
Stoichiometry---Determination of Percent by Mass of NaHCO
3
in Alka Seltzer Tablets
I. Introduction
Alka Seltzer is an over-the-counter antacid and pain relief medication that is taken by dissolving it in water
before ingesting. Alka Seltzer is an effervescent tablet that contains aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid), citric acid, and
NaHCO
3
. As soon as the tablet dissolves in water, an acid-base reaction involving sodium bicarbonate takes
place. The generation of carbon dioxide from the acid-base reaction causes the bubbling. The release of carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere results in a total weight loss after the reaction. With the weight loss, one should be
able to calculate the amount of sodium bicarbonate reacted, and determine the percent by mass of NaHCO
3
contained in Alka Seltzer tablets. According to the balanced chemical equation, it takes one mole of NaHCO
3
to
produce one mole of CO
2
. In other words, the moles of NaHCO
3
reacted equals the moles of CO
2
produced.
Therefore,
mass of NaHCO
3
reacted =
(mass of CO
2
generated / M.W. of CO
2
) M.W. of NaHCO
3
percent by mass of the reacted NaHCO
3
in a tablet =
(mass of NaHCO
3
reacted in a tablet / mass of a tablet) 100 %
II. Materials and Equipment
8 (or more) Alka Seltzer Tablets (Bayer Corporation)
Vinegar (acetic acid ca. 4.5 %), 150 mL
Clear plastic cup (9 cm depth, ca. 230 mL) or a 250 mL beaker
Electronic balance (0.01g)
Graduated cylinder (50 0.5 mL). To improve the results for the early runs one might use a 10 mL
graduated cylinder.
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III. Experimental Procedure
add 35 mL of water to a clear plastic cup
weigh and record the total weight of the cup with water in it
weigh and record the weight of an Alka Seltzer tablet
drop the tablet into the cup, carefully swirl the cup to ensure complete dissolution of the tablet
weigh and record the weight of the cup containing water and the dissolved substances when the bubbling
ceases
wash and rinse the cup with water
calculate the mass of carbon dioxide generated
calculate the mass of NaHCO
3
reacted
calculate the percent by mass of the reacted NaHCO
3
in the tablet
repeat the experiments with 5 mL vinegar + 30 mL water, 10 mL vinegar + 25 mL water, 15 mL vinegar +
20 mL water, 20 mL vinegar + 15 mL water, 25 mL vinegar + 10 mL, 30 mL vinegar + 5 mL water, and 35
mL vinegar instead of 35 mL of water
Plot the calculated % by mass of the reacted NaHCO
3
in a tablet versus the volume of vinegar used
IV. Safety and Hazards
One should not eat or taste the vinegar and Alka Seltzer tablets supplied by the instructor, even though
they are edible. Eye protection is needed for potential eye hazards from the spattering of the reaction mixture.
All solutions can be diluted with water and disposed of down the sink after the experiment.
V. Table of Data
Experiment No. Run #1 Run #2 Run #3 Run #4 Run #5 Run #6 Run #7 Run #8
Volume of Vinegar
(mL) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Volume of Water
(mL) 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
3
Weight of cup
with liquid
(g)
Weight of Alka
Seltzer tablet
(g)
Weight of cup
with all substances
(g)
Weight loss
(mass of CO
2
)
(g)
Calculated mass
of NaHCO
3
reacted (g)
Calculated % by
mass of the
reacted NaHCO
3
in a tablet
VI. Plot of the percent by mass of the reacted NaHCO
3
in a tablet versus the volume of vinegar used
Use Microsoft Excel to plot the percent by mass of the reacted NaHCO
3
in a tablet versus the volume of
vinegar used.
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VII. Questions
1. Write the chemical equation corresponding to the reaction that causes the bubbling when an Alka Seltzer
tablet is dropped into water.
2. How do you determine the amount of carbon dioxide generated in the reaction?
3. How do you determine the amount of NaHCO
3
consumed in the reaction?
4. How do you completely neutralize the NaHCO
3
in the reaction?
5. How do you determine the percent by mass of NaHCO
3
in an Alka Seltzer tablet?
6. How do you interpret the graph obtained in terms of the concepts of limiting reactant?
7. How does the dissolving of CO
2
in the reaction solution and the evaporation of water affect the result of the
analysis, respectively?
Notes for the Teacher
I. Background
This experiment gives students experience with a simple chemical reaction involving materials used in
everyday life. In the process of solving a real problem, students get the opportunity to verify the concepts of
stoichiometry learned in a general chemistry class. In this laboratory, student should run the reaction, measure
the amount of the product, calculate the amount of reactant consumed according to the mole-mass relationship,
plot the experimental data, and finally, correlate the graph obtained to the behavior of limiting reactant in the
reaction.
II. Materials
All materials used (Alka Seltzer tablets, vinegar, and cocktail cups) are household materials that can be
purchased from drug stores or supermarkets.
III. Teaching Tips
1. Since the quantity of vinegar is not required in the calculation, the content of acetic acid in vinegar is not
crucial. However, vinegar with a lower concentration will result in a later switch of the limiting reactant
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from the acid (H
+
) to NaHCO
3
and vice versa.
2. To improve the results for the early runs one might use a 10 mL graduated cylinder for the measurement of
vinegar.
3. The spattering of reaction mixture resulting from the bubbling of CO
2
during the reaction may cause an
extra weight loss. Therefore, the use of a tall type cup (or beaker) with volume around 250 mL is
suggested.
4. The cup containing reaction mixture is swirled during the experiment to ensure thorough mixing of the
reaction mixture and complete release of the gas product (CO
2
).
5. For a 10 min reaction period, there is a 35~70 mg of weight decrease in the blank vinegar-water solution
depending on the temperature and the humidity in the room. The quantity of CO
2
dissolved in 35 mL of
reaction solution is approximately 46 mg (1). While the evaporation of water leads to too large a value of
percent by mass of NaHCO
3
, the dissolving of CO
2
in solution will affect the result in the opposite way.
Therefore, the combination of the two errors should only give a minimal effect on both the shape of the
curve in the graph and the percent by mass of the NaHCO
3
.
6. Since HCl solutions have been used in the analysis of NaHCO
3
in Alka Seltzer tablets (1), it is interesting
to use HCl solution instead of vinegar in this experiment. However, the instructor should carefully decide
the concentration of the HCl solution to be used. The use of HCl solution with too high a concentration
will result in a very early switch of the limiting reactant from the acid to NaHCO
3
. The analysis of
NaHCO
3
in the tablet may not be affected by the high concentration of HCl solution, but the goal of
observing the actions of limiting reactant will not be achieved. HCl solution with concentration ranging
from 0.3 to 0.5 M is considered to be appropriate in this experiment.
7. Citric acid is one of the components of the Alka Seltzer tablet. Unlike HCl and acetic acid, citric acid is a
triprotic acid. It is interesting to use citric acid in the analysis instead of vinegar. However, the buffer
capacity of citric acid is considered to be an important factor on the resulting percent by mass of NaHCO
3
.
Since there will be a large amount of solid dissolving in water, it is important to make sure all of the tablet
is completely dissolved.
8. The reaction mixture can be diluted with water and disposed of down the sink.
IV. Answers to the Questions
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1. HCO
3

(aq)
+ H
+

(aq)
H
2
O
(l)
+ CO
2 (g)
2. Since the gas product (CO
2
) is released into the atmosphere, the weight loss of the reaction mixture after
the reaction is the amount of CO
2
generated in the reaction.
3. According to the balanced chemical equation, it takes one mole of NaHCO
3
to produce one mole of CO
2
.
Therefore,
mass of NaHCO
3
reacted =
(mass of CO
2
generated / M.W. of CO
2
) M.W. of NaHCO
3
4. Excess acid is required to consume all the NaHCO
3
contained in Alka Seltzer tablets.
5. percent by mass of NaHCO
3
in a tablet =
(mass of NaHCO
3
contained in a tablet / mass of a tablet) 100 %
6. When NaHCO
3
is in excess, the acid (H
+
) in the reaction is the limiting reactant. As the amount of vinegar
is increased, more sodium bicarbonate will react and more CO
2
will be produced. On the other hand,
when the acid is in excess, sodium bicarbonate becomes the limiting reactant. Since the amount of sodium
bicarbonate in a tablet is fixed, the amount of CO
2
generated remains constant regardless of the quantity of
vinegar added.
7. The dissolving of CO
2
in reaction solution will lead to too small a value of percent by mass of NaHCO
3
in
Alka Seltzer tablets. The evaporation of water will lead to too large a value of percent by mass of
NaHCO
3
in Alka Seltzer tablets. The evaporation of water may be corrected by subtracting the weight loss
of a blank solution from the weight loss of the reaction. The quantity of dissolved CO
2
can be estimated
by the information used in published articles: 10 mL 6M HCl solution absorbs about 3.0 10
-4
mol of CO
2
(2). This value should be added to the weight loss obtained.
V. References:
1. Peck, L.; Irgolic, K. and O'Connor, R. J. Chem. Educ. 1980, 57, 517.
2. Dudek, E. J. Chem. Educ. 1991, 68, 948.