From the results obtained, the Quick Eze tablets seem to neutralise more acid compared to the Alka Seltzer tablets. Hence it can be concluded that in terms of effectiveness, the Quick Eze tablets excel the most. This is most likely due to the ingredients within the tablets. The Alka Seltzer contain 1,000mg of anhydrous citric acid (C6H8O7), 324mg of aspirin (C9H8O4) and 1,916mg of sodium bicarbonate (Na2HCO3) per tablet while Quick Eze contains 780mg of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), 130mg magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) and 130mg magnesium trisilicate (Mg2O8Si3). As carbonates act as alkali, more carbonates mean more acid is neutralised when the acid and alkali react with each other. The acid is neutralised by converting the acid into water and other natural substances to keep the body in good condition (Rennie, n.d.). Hence each reaction with hydrochloric acid will produce a salt, water and carbon dioxide.…show more content… This reaction can be expressed with the following equation:
Na2HCO3 (aq) + HCl (aq) NaCl (aq) + H2O (l) + CO2 (g)
For the Quick Eze tablet, the main ingredients reacting with hydrochloric acid are calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate, like sodium bicarbonate will produce water and carbon dioxide gas but the salt this time is calcium chloride and magnesium chloride. These reactions can be expressed with the following equation:
CaCO3 (aq) + HCl (aq) CaCl2 (aq) + H2O (l) + CO2
