Final Report Draft
Introduction
Aim: to test the efficiency of various types of antacid tablets
Hypothesis: The tablets will neutralise the acid in less than 10 minutes with Ortac being the most
effective and Nexum being the least.
Equipment used:

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
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Red cabbage indicator (homemade with red cabbage and hot water)
Measuring cup
Lemon juice
Plastic cups
Antacid tablets
 Neotack (Ranitidine 150mg)
 Ortac (Ranitidine 150mg)
 Nexum (Esomeprazole 40mg)
 Entacyd (Dried Hydroxide Magnesium)
 Stopwatch
Risk Assessment:
Although this experiment is generally very safe there are a few risks which may occur.
There are various liquids involved so spillages are very likely. This is why the experiment will be
conducted on a covered surface or on a tray away from other objects specifically electrical
appliances to avoid damages.
While creating the red cabbage indicator a knife has to be used to cut the cabbage. Using a knife can
lead to cuts or other injuries and so the knife must be used carefully.
Hot water used for the indicator can burn skin so it must be poured carefully.
The lemon juice can come into contact with the eyes or previous injuries causing irritation which is
why glasses and gloves will be worn as precaution.
Method:
1. label each glass with the names of the antacids being used
2. add 10mL of red cabbage indicator into each glass
3. add 10mL of lemon juice to each glass
4. crush an antacid pill with the mortar and pestle and pour into the glass
5. Record the time it takes for the lemon juice to change colour into a more neutral scale.
6. repeat with the other brands of antacids
Results
Trial One
Antacid Brand
None
Time for final reaction
to occur
–
Neotack (Ranitidine 150mg)
It took 00:01:10.7 for the
solution to turn a slightly
more faded shade of pink.
Ortac (Ranitidine 150mg)
It took 00:01:17.9 for the
solution to turn slightly
lighter.
Nexum (Esomeprazole 40mg)
It took 00:01:28.6 for the
solution to turn this shade of
brown.
Entacyd (Dried Hydroxide
Magnesium)
It took 03:10:45.2 for the
solution to settle on this shade
of green
Image
Trial two
Antacid Brand
Time for final reaction
to occur
Neotack (Ranitidine 150mg)
It took 00:01:08.2 for the
solution to settle on the same
colour as trial one.
Ortac (Ranitidine 150mg)
It took 00:01:14.5 for the
solution to settle on the same
colour in trial one.
Nexum (Esomeprazole 40mg)
It took 00:01:25.6 for the
solution to turn this shade of
brown which is darker than
trial one.
Entacyd (Dried Hydroxide
Magnesium)
It took 03:04:14.3 for the
solution to settle on this shade
of green/blue
Image
Trial three
Antacid Brand
Time for final reaction
to occur
Image
Neotack (Ranitidine 150mg)
It took 00:01:05.9 for the
solution to settle on a slightly
darker shade of pink/red than
the previous trials.
Ortac (Ranitidine 150mg)
It took 00:01:14.2 for the
solution to settle on a redder
colour than the previous trials.
Nexum (Esomeprazole 40mg)
It took 00:01:26.6 for the
solution to turn this shade of
purple/brown.
Entacyd (Dried Hydroxide
Magnesium)
It took 03:00:34.2 for the
solution to settle on this shade
of blue
Observations over time
Within five minutes:
All cups have settled on their final colour except for ‘Entacyd’ (Dried Hydroxide Magnesium) (the
bottom right corner), which is a shade of murky purple/pink.
Within an hour:
No changes have occurred overall.
Within two hours:
The ‘Entacyd’ (Dried Hydroxide Magnesium) cup (the last one on the right) has now turned into a
shade of purple/grey. No other solutions have changed.
Within three hours:
All the other cups have remained the same whilst the ‘Entacyd’ (Dried Hydroxide Magnesium) cup
(the last one on the right) has settled on a green/blue
After twenty four hours:
No changes have occurred overall
Analysis
Antacid
Colour
ph.
Neotack (Ranitidine 150mg)
2
Ortac (Ranitidine 150mg)
2
Nexum (Esomeprazole 40mg)
2-4
Entacyd (Dried Hydroxide
Magnesium)
10
From the table above it can clearly be seen that Entacyd (Dried Hydroxide Magnesium) was the only
tablet to neutralise the lemon juice completely. Neotack (Ranitidine 150mg) and Ortac (Ranitidine
150mg) were the least effective brands of antacid as the solutions were still strongly acidic. Nexum
(Esomeprazole 40mg) was slightly more effective as the colour was somewhere between a brown
and a purple (which is more visible in the trial three results). These three antacid brands stopped
changing colour within five minutes of placing the crushed antacid into the lemon juice whilst
Entacyd (Dried Hydroxide Magnesium) took three hours to settle on a blue/green solution.
Discussion
Problems faced:
Some of the tablets failed to neutralise the acid as they were not tested with the recommended
dosage.
Odd results:
When testing the Nexum (Esomeprazole 40mg) tablet the resulting solutions ended up a different
colour in each trial. This was odd as none of the other tablets changed in colour except for the
Entacyd (Dried Hydroxide Magnesium) tablet which ranged from a green, to a green/blue and then a
blue in the three trials. These odd results could be due to a change in weather during the trials or the
change in lighting.
Project evaluation:
The experiment would be more accurate if the tablets had been tested in their recommended
dosage. Some of the antacid tablets required them to be consumed twice daily while other dosages
remained unknown as the information could not be obtained. The actual effects of the tablets could
have been properly investigated if the antacids were tested in their correct doses instead of only one
tablet for each trial.
A greater variety of antacid brands would have made this experiment a wider study of the effects of
antacids. As all of the tested brands were manufactured in the same foreign country, it would have
been a more thorough investigation to use Australian brands or to use liquid forms of antacids and
compare them with the tablet forms and brands.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the hypothesis was proved to be incorrect as it stated, “The tablets will neutralise the
acid in less than an hour with 'Ortac' being the most effective brand and 'Nexum' being the least”,
when the correct result was that the only successful neutralisation occurred after three hours with
‘Entacyd’ being the most effective brand and ‘Ortac’ and ‘Neotack’ being the least effective brands.
This proves that my research was not accurate enough to truly estimate the effects of different
antacids and the time it takes for it to achieve its effects.
Abstract
The purpose of conducting this experiment is to test the efficiency of different types of antacid
tablets. The experiment consists of observing how effectively different brands of antacids neutralise
acids. This is important for differentiating between the good and bad products which people
consume. This experiment investigated the effects of antacid tablets through placing antacid tablets
in glasses of lemon juice, which is a citric acid, and acid-base indicator. When the acid and the
antacid combined the acid became neutralised in a chemical reaction, such as colour change, which
was timed using a stopwatch. The more efficient type of antacid could be determined by observing
which antacid-lemon juice solution turned into a more neutral colour on the pH scale the quickest.
Throughout this experiment that out of the three antacid types that were tested (ranitidine,
esomeprazole and dried hydroxide magnesium) the most effective was dried hydroxide magnesium
and the least effective was the two brands of ranitidine.