ALKA-SELTZER

EXPERIMENT
Chemistry 173 6/7 B

Phenomenon

Alka-Seltzer Dissolving in water

Water causes the citric acid and sodium

bicarbonate to react, releasing carbon dioxide
which disperses the aspirin throughout the water

Measured: Dissolution Time

Definition of Dissolved: The tablet is no longer

visible

Experiment One
Manipulated Variable: Shaking or Stirring
the Solution
Hypothesis: If shaken/stirred, the time will
decrease substantially.

Data
Trials

Stirring (s)

Shaking (s)

Normal(s)

47.5

48.3

52.55

45.3

40.8

53.89

41.7

44.7

46.14

40.5

47.3

51.74

Standard Dev.

3.23

3.35

2.95

Mean

43.8

45.4

51.1

Graphical Analysis:
Stirring

Graphical Analysis:
Shaking
Reaction Time vs. Amount of Water

Discussion
The data supports the initial hypothesis
overall because according to the data table
the time decreases substantially compared
to the initial test
Difficulties: human and physical error
For a future experiment, we would try to be
more accurate as far as timing and
measurement

Experiment Two
Manipulated Variable: Amount of Water
Hypothesis: If we add water to the beaker,
then the reaction time of the alka-seltzer
tablet and water will not change.

Data
Trial

Avg
St. Dev

100 mL

150mL

200mL

47.8

47.7

47

48.8

49.3

43

48

49

49.4

49.5

44.2

45.2

48.525

47.55

46.15

0.780491

2.338803

2.714774

*All data measured in seconds unless noted

*All data should be rounded to 3 significant figures
*Numbers like 47 and 48 are actually 47.0 and 48.0
100 mL
*Avgs~

150 mL
48.5

200 mL
47.6

46.2

Graphical Analysis
Reaction Time vs. Amount of Water
50
45
40
35
30
Reaction Time (in s)

25
20
15
10
5
0
100 mL

150 mL
Amount of Water (in mL)

200 mL

Discussion

Hypothesis
Supported (for the most part)
Change in reaction time insignificant (basically +/- 1 sec. per 50 mL)

Difficulties
tablet hard to get exact
Didnt clean out beaker perfectly-not perfect tap water
Manual timing
Exact water amount

Things to change
Use full tablet to eliminate tablet problems
More exact timer
More time to work on lab-more trials, cleaner beaker, better data,

etc.

Experiment Three
Manipulated Variable:Water or Tablet first?

Hypothesis: The order of operations for

dissolving alka-seltzer tablets will NOT
affect the time it takes to dissolve the
tablet.

Data
Water Then Tablet (s)

Tablet Then Water (s)

50.3

48.7

52.4

50.3

50.1

49.1

54.2

51.7

51.7

47

Mean: 51.7

Mean: 49.4

Standard Deviation: 1.67

Standard Deviation: 1.76

Graphical Analysis
Order or Operations
52
51.5
51
50.5

Time to Dissolve (s)

50
49.5
49
48.5
49.4

48
1

Discussion

Our findings for the order or operations experiment is that it doesn't

matter if you put the water or Alka-Seltzer in first. This is because the
standard deviation we calculated was 2 seconds and the difference
between our two means is 2 seconds.

Our initial hypothesis was that the order wouldn't make a difference in
the time it takes to dissolve the tablet, and we were happy to see that
this was true supported by our data.

The only difficulty we encountered when conducting our experiment

was that the tablet would partially dissolve in the beaker that was
supposed to be dry (for the tablet then water portion) because there
was leftover water in it from using it in the other portion of our trials.

We fixed this by simply drying out the beaker with a paper towel.
There are no things that we would change for a future experiment.

Experiment Four
Manipulated Variable: Type of Liquid

Hypothesis: Because the alka-seltzer table

was designed for water, it will dissolve
faster in water than in any other liquid.

Data
Time to
Dissolve
(S)

Water

Coca-Cola

Diet Pepsi
Caffeine Free

52.55

56.17

57.61

97.88

53.89

56.62

56.49

98.7

57.07

86.94

46.14

Fruit Punch

51.74
Mean
Standard
Deviation

52.55

56.4

57.1

94.5

53.89

0.225

0.457

5.36

Graphical Analysis
Chart Title
100
90
80
70
60
Time Dissolved(In Seconds)

50
40
30
20
10
0

Water

Coca-Cola

Diet Pepsi Caffeine Free

Fruit Punch

Discussion

Supported hypothesis

Problems:
Inexact tablet sizes
Hard to see tablet
Hard to determine when dissolved

Next time:
Use whole tablets
Get a light to illuminate tablet
Conduct more trials

Experiment Five
Manipulated Variable: Temperature of the
Water

Hypothesis: Our hypothesis was that the water

at 29.5 degrees Celsius would dissolve the
Alka-Seltzer tablet faster than the water at
19.5 degrees Celsius (normal temperature of
tap water), which would dissolve the tablet
faster than the water at 9.5 degrees.

Data
Temp.
(degrees
Celsius)

Time for
reaction
to stop (s)
(Trial 1)

Trial 2 (s)

Trial 3 (s)

Water in
beaker
(mL)

Avg. time
(s)

Standard
Deviation

Hot Water

29.5

28.8

25.3

29.1

150

27.7

2.11

Tap Water

19.5

51.0

53.4

48.6

150

51.0

2.4

Cold
Water

9.5

82.9

86.1

81.7

150

83.6

2.27

Graphical Analysis

Discussion

Our data does support our initial hypothesis. Just as we

predicted, the tablet dissolved significantly faster with
warmer water.

Some difficulties we encountered in our experiment

included getting the water to exactly the right temperature,
determining when the tablet was completely dissolved,
and stopping the timer at the precise moment.

In future experiments, I would perhaps change the

temperatures used in the experiment or the size of the
Alka-Seltzer tablets (use whole tablets instead of half).

Experiment Six
Manipulated Variable: Size of Tablet

Hypothesis:

Data
Halves

Sixths

Crushed

45.17

49.39

20.15

50.7

50.63

14.03

59.9

52.12

17.96

49.74

54.65

18.67

49.58

42.88

18.81

45.68

49.82

21.85

Average

50.13

49.92

18.58

Standard Deviation

5.303517

3.938765

2.6193772

Time to
Dissolve(s)

Graphical Analysis
Effect of Tablet Size on Disolving Time
60.00

50.00

40.00

Time to Disolve(s)

30.00
20.00

10.00

0.00
Amount of Tablet

Discussion

Compared to a half tablet, dividing the

tablet into sixths does not seem to make
much of a difference. The averages are
close, and the standard deviation allows
for overlap. Therefore, it would not be
practical for a consumer to divide the tablet
into sixths. However, crushing the tablet
does seem to result in a reduction in
dissolving time.

Overall Conclusion

What should remain the same

Pour a normal sized glass of water, then put in tablet
Water is best
Amount of water, order dont matter
Traditional is more convenient

What could be changed

Use warm water
Should stir water
Consumer could crush tablet first